Lessons From the Emperor Penguin

Standing 3 to 4 feet tall and weighing 80 to 90 pounds, the emperor penguin is the largest and only penguin species that lays eggs and raises its young during the harsh Antarctic winter.

Plan Ahead

Each March and April as Antarctic winter closes in, emperor penguins head inland to their nesting areas. Waddling upright or pushing themselves along on their bellies, they travel up to 100 miles across the ice in order to make sure their nesting area will remain frozen until the young are ready for open water.
Once they reach the nesting grounds, the penguins find mates, and the female lays an egg in May or early June. The male then incubates the egg by cradling it on top of his feet under the folds of fat around his belly. Except for an occasional shuffle to a warmer position, male penguins will remain grouped together in this position until the eggs hatch, roughly 64 days later.

Work Together

In the mean time, female penguins trek to the ocean to feed and gather food for the hatchlings. About the time the chicks hatch, the females return to the nesting grounds. If the females do not return before the chicks hatch, males can feed the hatchlings a substance secreted by their digestive tracts for up to 10 days.
By this time, the males have lost up to 50 percent of their body weight, and as soon as the females arrive, the males set out for the ocean to replenish their reserves and gather food for the growing chicks.

Put Others First

Penguins can carry food in their stomachs without digesting it, and this ability allows penguins to bring food to their growing young.The parents take turns going on foraging trips as the Antarctic summer approaches and the ice recedes. Eventually, young emperor penguins form large groups and molt their downy feathers as they march north to the open water foraging areas.

Prepare for Future Usefulness

By January, emperor penguins have formed foraging groups and will spend most of their time in the ocean foraging for crustaceans and fish. A group can travel as many as 600 miles in one foraging trip, and individuals have reached depths of 1,500 feet and stayed underwater for 20 minutes.
Young penguins will not visit the nesting areas until they reach 4 years of age and will not breed until age 5 or 6. The average life span of an emperor penguin is 20 years.

The Emperor Penguin in Action

Commitment

Both parents feed and protect the offspring. As the father incubates the egg, the mother gathers food, and mother and father then alternately secure food for the chick..

Community

The penguin’s ability to form and maintain a peaceful group helps male penguins share and conserve warmth as they incubate their eggs during the Antarctic’s harsh winters.

Consistency

Penguins persevere through each season, storing sufficient energy during the summer to successfully reproduce, return to the ocean, and repeat the process the following year.

Clarity

Penguins rely on a complex set of vocalizations to identify mates, parents, and offspring. They also have vocalizations to maintain contact in the group and conduct courtship.