Emperor Penguins: Description, Habitad, Reproduction

Emperor Penguins: Description, Habitad, Reproduction

Description and habit

Reaching heights of more than three feet (one meter), the world’s largest penguin is the emperor penguin. Their brands resemble those of the king penguin, but this species is larger and the two species generally do not have overlapping distributions. Emperor penguins spend the whole year in Antarctica, while the king penguins live in groups of sub -antarctic islands and in southern South America.

Adaptation to deep diving and food

Emperor penguins are predators who feed on fish, squid and, sometimes, krill in cold and productive currents around Antarctica. Scientists have shown that these penguins can immerse themselves at least 500 m (1700 feet) in search of food. Although they feed in open sea, emperor penguins nest on the ice surface. This penguin is the only species that nests during winter, and its nesting cycle is fascinating. 

Reproduction

After mating, the female puts a single large egg that the male will incubate it until hatching. The transfer of the female’s egg to the male can be difficult and some couples drop it. Even if the egg survives a fall, it will quickly freeze until they die, since the penguins have few means to raise it again. As soon as the egg is safe with the male, the female goes to the open sea to feed. The male keeps the egg on top of the legs, covered with a mantle of feathers, skin and fat for two months in the middle of winter.

During this time, it does not feed and curl up with other nearby males to preserve body heat. Temperatures can reach -40 ° F (-40 ° C).

The penguins, like all birds, are hot blood, so spending two months without eating has an extreme cost in the male’s body, since it must trust their energy reserves. You can lose up to 50% of your body weight. When the egg finally hatches, females return to take care of newborn chick, and the male can finally leave and feed. This nesting strategy – each female only puts an egg and each male only takes care of an egg – leads to monogamy in this species, where males and females have only one couple. However, unlike other penguin species, emperor penguins usually have different couples from one year to another.

As nesting colonies are only formed during winter, emperor penguins are difficult to study. It is very difficult for people to spend the winter in Antarctica. However, scientists have developed a means to track the size of the emperor penguin population using satellites. As these penguins are clear black points in a landscape that would otherwise be white, the satellite images of their culture broth allow scientists to account for their number and study their movements.

Species protection

The emperor penguin is considered almost threatened. The populations are stable and is currently not at risk of extinction. However, this species can be particularly vulnerable to changes in ecosystems caused by climate change. The two poles of the earth are changing faster than other latitudes, so the Emperor penguin habitat could be at risk. As this species nests mainly on ice, any significant change in Antarctic ice can threaten the reproductive colonies. Therefore, it is important that scientists continue to study the Antarctic ecosystem and emperor penguin populations to ensure that the numbers remain stable.