The Emperor Penguin

The Emperor Penguin

Most animals breed in summer, but these breed in the negative temperatures. They survive by keeping each other warm in a huddle. They adapted this huddling and they actually take turns to replace the coldest emperor penguins on the edges of the hurdle. Thought the rigorous conditions that they face, emperor penguins raise a chick every year. How the Ice breaks play a huge role on the survivability rate of the baby emperor penguin (chicks). The reason the ice breaking is important is because if the ice edge is close to the breading ground the parents will be able to provide more food thus increasing the chick’s chances of survival. Emperor penguins may look just like another penguin, but rest assures that they are all unique in their own way. As unusual as it might seem, emperor penguins lay only one egg and they succeed in doing so every year.

Emperor penguins “begin their breeding cycle when other Antarctic penguins have just finished theirs” (Ward, par.14). Different types of penguins head towards the North, while the emperor penguin does the march of the penguins, single filed towards the coldest climates in the South. The average temperature is -4 degrees Fahrenheit to about -22 degrees Fahrenheit. The land isn’t actually land at all; they breed on solid sea ice, thus being the only “bird that never sets foot on land” (Ward.par.13). The Breeding ground chosen is usually surrounded by high cliffs and or icebergs to help block most of the wind. “The first thing they have to do is relocate their mates or, if they haven't bred before, find one” (, par.1). At this time there is a lot of activity in the colony with lots of emperor penguins wandering around, singing their songs and performing courtship behaviours. These include a wide range of displays ranging from head bowing to head swinging and walking around in a most impressive manner. The eggs of the emperor penguin are relatively small compared to the body size of any other bird.

The...