Emperor Penguin

Animal Unique | Emperor Penguin | Maybe you know this animal through Happy Feet and  Surf's Up. The Emperor penguin is the largest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. They are a very social species that forage and nest in groups. There are an estimated 40 colonies throughout the Antarctic ice found at locations near the sea. If the species has no fixed nest sites that individuals can use to find their own partner or chick.

The  Emperor penguin only rely on vocal calls for identification. It uses a complex series of conversations that are critical for individual recognition between parents, children and friends, displaying the largest variation in individual interviews of all penguins. Vocalizing Emperor penguins use two frequency bands simultaneously. Chicks using a frequency-modulated whistle to beg for food and to contact the parents.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Aves
Order:     Sphenisciformes
Family:     Spheniscidae
Genus:     Aptenodytes
Species:     A. forsteri

The Emperor penguin is the largest penguin species. This beautiful kind of sport the style tuxedo plumage of many penguin species with dark gray to blue-tinted feathers on the back and a black tail, wings, head, chin and throat. The breast and belly are pale yellow to white. An orange-yellow band appears near the ears on each side of the head that fades toward the neck and chest. The wings are not used for the flight, they are used as paddles for swimming.

The Emperor penguin is subjected to some of the toughest, coldest weather on earth. These amazing birds endure bad weather during the breeding season when temperatures average -62 C and a maximum gust 192 km per hour. During the winter storms, they crawl together to protect and share the warmth of the inner huddle by continuously rotating the outer edge to the inner circle. 

They are well equipped to withstand the cold with their four layers of the scale-like feathers that even the strongest winds can not be disturbed. It hits a lot of fat used for their isolation. The males also store body fat as they grow rapidly during the winter months when they hatch the eggs. Emperor penguins are able to adjust their body heat to recycle because their blood is circulated through the body in a way that it cools as it moves through the arteries and veins in the direction of the extremities (feet, wings and bill) and heats the as it travels back to the heart.

The Emperor penguin, feeding on small pelagic fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Adults and young people are prey by leopard seals, orcas (killer whales) and sharks, chicks are prey by hunting gulls and Antarctic giant petrels. Female  Emperor penguins lay one egg which is then incubated by the male in a special pouch on top of the feet. 

When the chicks hatch they are covered with down and have a black head with two white patches around the eyes. If they come back for the female to feed them, the  male broke an esophageal secretion occasionally referred to as "penguin milk." When the female returned to the breeding, the male returns to the sea to forage for several weeks.

 Emperor penguins are not listed as threatened as population surveys have indicated that this species is stable. However, there are still concerns that human disturbance may lead to decline in the breeding population and global warming, the sea ice impact and threaten the breeding sites.

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