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Emperor Penguin Facts & Worksheets

The emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, is the largest member of all the extant species under order Sphenisciformes, which is endemic to Antarctica.

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The emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, is the largest member of all the extant species under order Sphenisciformes, which is endemic to Antarctica. Emperor penguins are known for their stately behavior and black-and-white coloration with yellow breast and ear patches.

See the fact file below for more information on the emperor penguin or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Emperor Penguin worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

TAXONOMY

  • In 1884, English zoologist George Robert Gray described the emperor penguins with a generic name derived from ancient Greek word elements, which translates to “without-wings-diver”.
  • Its specific name, forsteri, is in honor of Johann Reinhold Forster, a German naturalist who escorted Captain James Cook on his second expedition and officially named five other penguin species.
  • From 1773 to 1774, Forster may have been the first person to witness the penguins, where he recorded a sighting of them and assumed it was similar to the king penguin (A. patagonicus). However, given the location, Forster proposed it was the emperor penguin.
  • Alongside the king penguin, emperor penguins are one of the two living species under the genus Aptenodytes.
  • The Ridgen’s penguin (A. ridgeni), a third species of the Aptenodytes, is an extinct member of the genus from the Pliocene of New Zealand. Its fossils were found in 1968 on a Canterbury region beach by an 11-year-old schoolboy, Alan Ridgen.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

  • Adult emperor penguins reach 110 to 120 cm (43 to 47 inches) in length, and they weigh around 22.7 to 45.4 kg (50 to 100 lbs). Males are slightly heavier than females.
  • An emperor penguin’s weight also fluctuates by season, as both sexes lose substantial mass while raising their young and incubating their egg.
  • A male emperor penguin should survive the extreme Antarctic winter cold for at least 60 days while guarding his egg. He eats nothing during this season. Most males lose weight, around 12 kg (25 lbs) while they incubate their eggs.
  • Before breeding season, males weigh 38 kg (84 lbs) and females are at 29.5 kg (65 lbs). After the breeding season, both sexes’ weights drop to roughly 23 kg (51 lbs).
  • SImilar to all penguin species, emperor penguins use their streamlined bodies to reduce drag while swimming. They also have stiff wings that resemble flat flippers. An emperor penguin’s tongue has rear-facing barbs that keeps the prey from escaping when caught.
  • Males and females are almost similar in size and coloration. Adults have black dorsal feathers that cover the head, chin, throat, back, dorsal part of the flippers, and tail. Their bellies and the underparts of their wings are white, while their upper breasts and ear patches turn pale and bright yellow. The upper mandible of their 8 cm (3 in) bill is black, and the lower part can be pink, orange, or lilac.
  • In juveniles, the ear patches, chin, and throat are white, while the bill is black. They are usually covered with fine silver-grey feathers, and they have black heads with white masks. Chicks weigh roughly 315 g (11 oz) after hatching, and they leave their nest when they reach about half their adult weight.
  • An adult’s black plumage fades to brown during the Antarctic summer, which starts in November and ends in February.
  • An emperor penguin’s average life expectancy is 19.9 years.
  • Researchers have also assumed that 1% of the population could reach an average age of 50 years.

BEHAVIOR

  • Emperor penguins are social animals in their nesting and foraging behaviors. They are active both day or night. Adults travel most of the year between the breeding colony and ocean foraging areas. They scatter into the ocean from January to March.
  • Both sexes scour for food up to 500 km (311 mi) from their colonies in order to feed their young, covering 82 to 1,454 km (51 to 903 mil) per penguin per trip.
  • They are efficient swimmers, exerting pressure with both upward and downward strokes while underwater. Their average swimming speed is 6 to 9 km/hr (3.7 to 5.6 mph).
  • On land, these penguins alternate between walking with a wobbly gait and tobogganing – sliding over the ice using their belly, propelled by their feet and flippers.
  • To survive the cold, a colony of emperor penguins forms a huddle, varying in size from ten to several hundred penguins, with each individual leaning forward on a neighbor.
  • Since they have no permanent nest sites, emperor penguins depend on vocal calls to identify their partner or chick. They use a complicated set of calls – two frequency bands simultaneously. Chicks produce a modulated whistle to ask for food and to call their parents.

HABITAT AND DIET

  • Emperor penguins are exclusively distributed throughout the Antarctic region, between the 66° and 77° south latitudes.
  • Their breeding colonies are usually found in ice cliffs and icebergs, which give protection from the wind.
  • They feed mainly on fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. The Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) makes up the bulk of their diet.
  • They are preyed upon by birds and aquatic mammals, such as the southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus), which attack chicks and scavenge for dead penguins. The south polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) also preys on dead chicks.
  • The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) snatches adult penguins and fledglings as they enter the water. Orcas (Orcinus orca), on the other hand, mostly eat adult birds, although they will ambush penguins of any age that are in or near the water.

REPRODUCTION

  • Their annual reproductive cycle starts during the Antarctic winter, in March and April, when all adults travel to colonial nesting areas. They begin courtship in March or April, when the temperature is as low as -40 °C (-40°F).
  • A male emperor penguin stands still and places its head on its chest, before producing a courtship call which lasts for 1 to 2 seconds. It then circles around the colony and repeats the call.
  • A couple will stand face to face. Then, both penguins lean towards each other and hold this posture for several minutes.
  • Couples wobble around the colony, with the male penguin taking the lead. Before copulation, one bird bows deeply to its mate, its bill reaching the ground, and its mate copies the same behavior.
  • Emperor penguins are serially monogamous, having only one mate every year and remaining faithful to that mate.
  • Females lay one 460 to 470 g (1.01 to 1.04 lbs) egg in May or June. Its egg is pear-shaped, usually pale greenish-white in color, and measures around 12 cm by 8 cm.
  • Hatching takes as long as two to three days to complete. Females return from hatching up to ten days later, usually from July to early August, and find their mate.
  • Chicks start to molt into juvenile plumage in early November, and this lasts for two months.

Emperor Penguin Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Emperor Penguin across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Emperor Penguin worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, which is the largest member of all the extant species under order Sphenisciformes, which is endemic to Antarctica. Emperor penguins are known for their stately behavior and black-and-white coloration with yellow breast and ear patches.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Emperor Penguin Facts
  • Meet the Emperor
  • Emperor Basics
  • Anatomy of an Emperor Penguin
  • Life Story of an Emperor
  • Penguin Planner
  • Emperor vs King
  • Other Penguin Species
  • Penguin Origami
  • Emperor Recap
  • Coping with Climate Change

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Link will appear as Emperor Penguin Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, April 4, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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