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DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS
The emperor penguin is the largest penguin. They breed in the coldest conditions in the world and do not build nests or claim land as "their territory".
Emperor Penguins have a big head, a thick short neck, a short wedged shaped tail and small flipper like wings.
Their colouring is unique with only one other penguin remotely alike. They have a blue-grey upperbody, blackish-blue head, white and yellow ear-patches, mostly white underpants with their breasts showing a pale yellow.
Emperor Penguins grow up to 1.15m tall and weigh up to 40kg. There are about 195,000 pairs in breeding colonies of about 35 all along the Antartctic coast.
Emperor Penguins can dive up to 565m and remain underwater for about 22 minutes.
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EMPEROR PENGUINS ON THE ANTARCTICA COAST
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BREEDING, HATCHING AND GROWING
Unlike Other penguins, the Emperor breeds in the winter in some of the worlds most coolest conditions. The reason for their breeding in the winter is becuase in this time the other animals move to warmer conditions, so this means; more food and less predators.
Breeding begins in March and finishes in December. The female will lay her egg in mid-May, she will then go to spend the winter at sea.
While the female is at sea the male courts, mates and incubates the egg. During this time the male will not eat a thing. For 65 days the male will have the egg resting on his feet.
In mid-July the female will return from the sea. She will find her mate by having remembered his call. In about 10 seconds the male will have passed the egg onto the female and the egg will hatch. If for any reason an egg is dropped in the snow it will freeze in about 2 mins. The male will then make his long journey back to the sea and food.
Emperor chicks grow fast, they only have 5 months before they have to fend for themselves. Both the male and female will take-in-turns at going to sea and bringing back food fore the chick. Becasue it takes so long to get from the sea and back again both of the parents will only manage to eat about 16 meals in the whole 5 months of incubating and bringing the chick up.
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FEEDING HABITS Unlike other penguins the Emperor eats fish and squids. Intake varies, depending on availibily, the different areas and different time of the year.
Penguins feed at sea. They rely on their vision while hunting, it is not known how penguins can find their prey in the darkness at night and in the depth, some scientists say it is because ocean squids and fishes are bioluminescent.
Penguins catch thier prey with their bill and they swallow it whole while swimming. They walk and toboggan from feeding ground to rookeries. If it is too far to travel to a feeding ground they will either fish from seal holes or other openings in the ice. Penguins fast annually, before this fasting period occurs the penguins will form a layer of fat that will provide them with energy. They will also fast during molting periods the reason for this is because the loss of waterproofing stops them from entering the water.
The chicks fast close to the time when they shed their juvenile feathers.
The male penguins may fast for 90-120 days while breeding.
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SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS
The Emperor penguins have really good insulation with four layers of feathers. Their really small bill and flippers also conserve heat. Also nasal chambers save alot of heat that is normally lost during exhalation. Also emperor penguins have rather large reserves of energy.
Emperors also have the ability to re-use its owns body heat, becasue their arteries and veins are close together the blood is pre-cooled on the way to the birds feet, wings and bill and warmed on the way back to the heart.
HUDDLING: The emperor penguins have to face freezing winds which blow of the polar plateau and make them even colder. To keep warm the males "share their body heat" by huddling close together. On very cold days as many as 10 pack every square meter in a huddle. When they are huddling they seem to almost loose their identity, and they seem to behave like a single living emperor.
Huddling stops the loss of body heat by nearly 50%. |
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