Emperor Penguin Breeding and Life Cycle

Overview

• General Facts
• Breeding Season
• Communication and Courtship
• Reproductive Process
• Egg Development/Incubation
• Problems with Egg Incubation
• Hatching
• Raising the Chick
• Threats to Population

Hatching

Egg Development/ Incubation

General Facts

Threats to Population

Communication and Courtship

• begins mid-July and ends early August
• hatching can take up to 3 days
• mothers will come back roughly 7-8 weeks later
• during time mothers are away, males can reguritate white secretion from the lining of their esophagus to provide survival for chick

• habitat conservation
• ice is predicted to melt
• currently over 3,000 breeding pairs and estimated to drop down to 500-600 pairs by 2100
• preadtors
• skua's
• killer whales
• leopard seals

• largest species of penguin
• 48 in. tall and 50-100 lbs.
• average lifespan is 15-20 years
• Found only in Antartica
• temperatures as low as -60 °F and 89 mph wind speeds
• flightless birds with powerful flippers and streamlined bodies
• thermoregulation capabilities
• reproduce by laying eggs and enduring an incubation period

Any Questions?

• pear shaped and pale-green in color
• averages about 5 in. in length
• weighs anywhere from 12-18 oz.
• egg must be incubated at all times until hatching occurs
• brood pouch will keep egg at a temperature of about 95°F
• male normally has first incubation shift and endures a period of fasting while the female leaves to feed
• huddling behavior
• the female will then return after 2 months to take care of the newley hatched chick

• penguins meet at annual breeding spot
• serially monogamous
• achieve sexual maturity around 3 years old
• first time breeders are actually around 5-6 years old
• courtship begins when mates start "singing" to eachother
• this song is established after the pairs first time mating and serves as a "homing device"
• once they locate eachother, the pair will establish a nest and begin the reproductive process

Raising The Chick

Breeding Season

Problems with Egg Incubation

• 80% of chicks die within their first year of life
• Parents secrete prolactin during entirity of breeding cycle
• By early October, chicks have grown their waterproof wings
• Chicks are very social and create huddles with other chicks, called creche's

Reproductive Process

In Conclusion...

• females can be skeptical to give their male the egg
• if male fails to scoop up egg in time, it can freeze

• starts in March or April; ends in late May or early June (3- 4 month time period)
• breed during the coldest months of the year
• springtime climate is easier for a chick to learn survival skills
• Ice is at its thickest during the winter months
• other 8-9 months are spent in and around the ocean
• only produce one offspring per year

http://media.gettyimages.com/videos/emperor-penguin-chick-creche-with-sprinkling-of-snow-and-parents-video-id548360881

• they make an introduction by bowing to each other several times
• the male will then bend his head, contract his abdomen, and shows the female the spot on his belly called a "brood pouch"
• do not have any external genitalia
• instead both male and female posess cloaca's
• sperm transfer occurs here, but it's stored in the testes until needed
• Male Reproductive organs: testes, the ductus deferens, epididymis, and the cloaca
• Female Reproductive organs: one ovary, uterus, oviduct, magnum, uterovaginal junction and the cloaca
• the chick and shell of the egg will start developing in the uterus and move down to the uterovaginal junction
• here the egg's shell will fully harden and she will lay the egg

http://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/video/emperor-penguins-carefully-transfer-their-egg-stock-video-footage/3B2FBBDC_0040

• seasonal breeders
• breed with only one partner their whole life
• only able to reproduce one egg at a time
• ability to distinguish their mate's "song"

Citations

Bradford, Alina M. "Penguin Facts: Species & Habitat." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. http://www.livescience.com/27434-penguin-facts.html

"Emperor Penguin Breeding Cycle." Emperor Penguin Breeding Cycle — Australian Antarctic Division. Commonwealth of Australia 2016, 16 May 2008. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/wildlife/animals/penguins/emperor-penguins/breeding-cycle

Government, Australian. "Emperor Penguin Breeding Cycle." Emperor Penguin Breeding Cycle — Australian Antarctic Division. Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Antarctic Division, 16 May 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.

Jenouvrier, Stephanie. "Emperor Penguins Threatened by Antarctic Sea Ice Loss." Emperor Penguins Threatened by Antarctic Sea Ice Loss | UCAR - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. David Hosansky, 20 June 2012. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. http://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/7352/emperor-penguins-threatened-antarctic-sea-ice-loss

Jenouvrier, Stephanie. "Emperor Penguins Threatened by Antarctic Sea Ice Loss." Global Change Biology (2012): 1. Web. 03 Nov. 2012.

Jouventin, Pierre, and Thierry Aubin. "Acoustic Systems Are Adapted to Breeding Ecologies: Individual Recognition in Nesting Penguins." Animal Behaviour 64.5 (2002): n. pag. Web.

Jouventin, Pierre, and Thierry Aubin. Animal Behaviour. 5th ed. Vol. 64. N.p.: Elsevier, n.d. Print.

Moussaieff, J. Masson. The Emperor's Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood. New York: Pocket, 1999. Print.

Stonehouse, Bernard. "Breeding Behaviour of the Emperor Penguin." Nature 169.4305 (1952): n. pag. Web.

Ward, Paul. "Emperor Penguins Facts - Aptenodytes Forsteri." Emperor Penguin Pictures and Facts. CoolAntarctica, 2001. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/Emperor-penguins.php

IMAGE CITATIONS

• http://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/1-emperor-penguin-aptenodytes-forsteri-konrad-wothe.jpg

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_penguin#/media/File:PENGUIN_LIFECYCLE_H.JPG

• http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/big-ideas/penguins/

• https://www.google.com/search?q=emperor+penguin+egg&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=535&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiygL-IwN7QAhWiqVQKHbUEAwQQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=Qcn_jgkM1rtg8M%3A

• http://marinebio.org/upload/aptenodytes-forsteri/1.jpg

• http://www.emperor-penguin.com/penguin-chick.jpg

• http://legacy.earlham.edu/~smilery/penguin5.jpg

• http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/26/2615/9ABMD00Z/posters/thorsten-milse-emperor-penguin-chick-and-adulta-snow-hill-island-weddell-sea-antarctica-polar-regions.jpg

Emperor Penguin Breeding and Life Cycle

By: Megan White and Sara Cooper