L E A R N I N G    A C T I V I T Y    2

HOW DO EMPEROR PENGUINS KEEP THEIR EGGS WARM?

Once a male and female have bonded they mate and one large egg is laid. The egg is about the size of a softball. Immediately the egg is rolled onto the top of the male's feet. The male uses his long bill to scoop the egg up onto his feet. Once it is there it is covered by the warm pouch-like fold of feathers and blubber that hangs down from the male's stomach. This is called a "brood patch". There the egg will stay until it hatches. Incubation of the egg usually takes about 9 weeks. This is during the coldest winter months of the Antarctic season.

The male goes without eating during this time. They huddle in groups for warmth and alternate from standing on the outer circle to standing in the middle. They do this to conserve body warmth and energy. During this time males may lose up to 1/2 of their body weight. If the male loses too much weight he will abandon the egg and will return to the open sea to feed. The survival of the chick depends on how fat and healthy the male is. This is why the females pick the fattest and biggest males to mate with.

Once the egg hatches, the male produces a liquid from glands in his throat. He feeds this to the young chick. The chick lays on the male's feet and is covered with the fold of bludder and is kept warm while it grows its layer of down. Soon after the egg hatches the female returns and takes over the care of the chick. She feeds it food that is forced up from her stomach and keeps it warm with her brood patch. The male then returns to the open sea to feed for several weeks, then he returns to help care for the chick. Both the male and female care for the chick for several more months.

It is now the middle of the spring season in Antarctic. The chicks are about seven weeks old and they are covered with a a thick, fluffy down and are too large to fit under the brood pouches of the parents. All the chicks will huddle together in groups called crèches. Both parents then return to the open sea to feed. They return often to feed their chick. Each chick has a different sound when is calls, so each parent can recognize their own chick. When the chicks are six to seven months old the parents stop feeding them.

It is now the middle of the summer season and the chicks take to the open sea to dive and hunt for food. Juvenile penguins chicks know how to swim, dive, and hunt food by instinct. They do not need to be taught. In a few months they will return to shore to molt and grow their adult feathers. Emperor penguins begin to breed when they are about four years old and they can live to be 20 years old or older. Often males and females keep the same partners for life. Male and females return each breeding season to the same area breeding grounds to bond, mate and care for the chick.