General Emperor Penguin Facts
Here I have posted some of the more common Emperor Penguin facts. These include information ranging from body dimensions, habitat, diet and breeding. There are also some cool little easy to remember Emperor Penguin facts tossed in too!!
Emperor Penguin Facts : Quick Overview
In the world of penguins, the very largest type is the Emperor Penguin. The smallest type of penguin in the entire world happens to be the tiny Fairy penguins…the Emperor Penguin dwarfs them by five times. Typically you’ll find Emperor Penguins living in colonies with upwards of four hundred thousand (400,000) penguins. That means there are about two hundred thousand pairs (200,000) pairs of Emperor Penguins in large colonies such as that.
Emperor Penguin facts to easily remember: 400,000 can be in a colony!
Prior to the breeding season, the males and the females live in separate colonies. Once breeding season comes upon them, they come together on their way to the nesting grounds where they will mate and also raise the young.
Emperor Penguin Facts: Height and Weight Facts
An adult Emperor Penguin is approximately 120cm (47 inches) in height and standing straight up. These tall birds also will weigh in between 22 and 37kg (48 to 81lbs). Just reading how big these penguins can get it’s really easy to realize how it’s possible they are the biggest type of penguin in the world.
When it comes to differences between males and females in regards to size, there is little as they are typically around the same size and that is yet another of the easy to remember Emperor Penguin facts.
Emperor Penguin Facts: Colors and Feathers
On it’s back, you’ll find that the Emperor Penguin has very deep black feathers. The feathers on it’s head, chin and neck are just as black as those on it’s back. The belly feathers and those under it’s wings are bright white.
Around the upper mandible you’ll see that the feathers are black and the lower mandible could be a multitude of colors that include lilac, orange or pink.
This is one of the easier Emperor Penguin facts to remember if you’re trying to remember and that’s that male and female Emperor Penguins are pretty much the same when it comes to colors.
Emperor Penguin Facts: It’s Habitat
The Emperor Penguin can almost be found exclusively in Antarctica, the Southern Hemisphere. Here their breeding colonies will stay as much as possible near the shore lines and take shelter under cliffs and in caves where available.
Emperor Penguin Facts: Diet Information
It’s probably a pretty obvious Emperor Penguin fact that they eat a lot of fish and it constitutes the most important diet item in on the table for them. Another large portion of their diet will also include squid.
They ‘hunt’ for their meals by diving into the ocean to depths of about 50m (160ft) and this allows them to easily see fish below the ice. Here’s another of those cool Emperor Penguin facts: they have been known to dive to depths as deep as 450m (1476ft)! But that’s not all, they have even been known to travel as far as 1000km (621 miles) on one hunting/fishing trip!
Emperor Penguin Facts: Breeding Facts
Once they reach the age of 5 years, Emperor Penguins will begin their breeding lives. When the breeding season comes they will travel about 90km (56 miles) inland to get to their mating site. In the spring, March or April, they begin their breeding season.
By the time June rolls around most of the females have laid their eggs. They lay one egg each and the egg itself weighs about 450 grams (1 pound). After she lays her egg, the female is completely malnourished and must immediately go to the sea to fish.
Just before she leaves, she will very carefully transfer the egg to her male companion. This is a delicate process because the temperatures are so cold that if the egg touches the ice it will not hatch. For the next 65 days the male penguin will incubate the egg in his brood pouch. He will not leave it, he will not go to eat and will live off of the fat and nutritional supplies already in his body.
During this time he will endure winds of up to 200 km/h (120 mph) and sub zero temperatures. When the cold and wind become unbearable, they will huddle together to preserve warmth and provide each other protection from the wind. This is of the more amazing Emperor Penguin facts and one of those Emperor Penguin facts that are easy to remember.
Another one of the cool Emperor Penguin facts is that they are serially monogamous. Which means, they remain faithful to the same mate during the mating season. When the next season comes around, they make an attempt to find their previous mate however, most often wind up with different breeding mates each year.
Take a look at this cool video that shows and discusses many very cool facts about the breeding, life and some more Emperor Penguin Facts.
Come on back as we are constantly adding Penguin Facts to our site and that includes Emperor Penguin Facts as well.
Posted in Emperor Penguin, Types of Penguins