Emperor Penguin

Facts about Emperor Penguins. "Emperor Penguin scientific name Aptenodytes forsteri". Emperor Penguins will spend their entire lives on the ice of the Antarctica or in the surrounding water. One of the most interesting things about Emperor Penguin is that, this type of penguin is the heaviest and tallest in the family of penguins. The male and female Emperor Penguin weight are the same, so it is a bit difficult to identify the two since they have such similar body types.

Features about the Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguins have colorful feathers around their head and neck area, the head of the Emperor Penguin is black in color as well as the dorsal side. Though they are not quite as bright as the King Penguin, but almost as large. Emperor penguins have a belly is white with a pale yellow breast and a yellow ear patch. The chicks of the Emperor Penguin have distinctive plumage with a large white face patch. The stiff wings don't help them fly, but helps them greatly in the water for swimming. The Emperor Penguins have flippers and small bills, this helps them to conserve heat, and the special nasal chambers that will minimize the heat discharge when they are breathing out. Because their arteries and veins are aliened so close together, Emperor Penguins have the capability to recycle their own body heat. With this system, their blood is cooled down on the way to the penguins extremities and than it is warmed up when it returned to the heart.
The Emperor Penguin is the largest of 17 species of penguin and will average about 45 inches (1.15 meters) tall. It is the only animal in the winter to inhabit the open ice of Antarctica.
The Emperor Penguin will face negative wind chills factors as cold as -76°F (-60°C) and blizzard conditions of 124 mph (200 km/ph). Despite these really harsh winter conditions,

Reproduction of Emperor Penguin

The female Emperor Penguin will lay one egg in a year. The responsibility of making the egg hatch entirely depends on the male Emperor Penguin because the female returns to the sea to feed. An interesting thing to note is that the Emperor Penguin treks for 75 miles (120 km) to the breeding colonies. Emperor Penguin is the only species of penguins that has an ability of breeding during the Antarctic winter and walking over the ice. Just like other penguins, Emperor Penguins take care of their chick until it becomes of age.

Molting of the Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguins have to eat a very large quantity of food when possible. They need to build up layers of fat. When they are on land for mating or when they are Molting -(of an animal-shed old hair skin, or an old shell, to make way for a new growth that will occur, the adult Emperor Penguin were already molting into their winter shades of gray), they rely on the layers of fat to help them survive, as when the time they are unable to go to the water for food. Emperor Penguin regularly preen (meaning of a bird, cleans and straighten its feathers with its beak)

Diet of the Emperor Penguin

The Emperor Penguin is a Carnivore. (meat eater) Fish is the main diet, but just as other penguins, Emperor Penguins can also eat crustaceans like krill and squid. While they are hunting, they have an interesting fact, this is that they can stay around 20 minutes submerged in water for a depth of around 1800 ft (550 meters). An Emperor Penguin doesn't drink water, since they take in seawater as they swallow their meals and like all penguins, they have a that special gland that removes salt from their bodies after swallowing saltwater.

The Emperor Penguin ability to stay under water

The Emperor penguin can survive under water with low oxygen level because it has structured hemoglobin which facilitates this adaptability. Emperor Penguins solid bones are an added advantage because this makes the body organs that are not essential to stop functioning. This explains why Emperor Penguins stays in water for such a long time.

The Emperor Penguin is an amazing species of the Penguin family, the population is estimated at 600,000 individuals, 248,000 breeding pairs. Emperor Penguins can live up to 15 to 20 years.