Slide 3• Emperor Penguins are the largest of 17 species of Penguins.• The average yearly survival rate of the Emperor Penguin is 95.1%, with an average life span of 20 years. • 1% of Emperor Penguins hatched could reach an age of 50 years. • Only 19% of chicks survive their first year of life. So, 80% of the Emperor Penguin population consists of adults five years and older.
Slide 3 : Appearance (Diagram of Emperor Penguin’s major body parts)• The adult Emperor Penguin stands up to 110–130 cm (43–51 in) tall.• The weight ranges from 22.7 to 45.4 kg (50 to 100 lb) • The Emperor has a streamlined body to minimize drag while swimming, and wings that become stiff, flat flippers. • The tongue is equipped with rear‐facing barbs to prevent prey from escaping when caught. • The adult has deep black dorsal feathers, covering the head, chin, throat, back, dorsal part of the flippers, and tail. • The under parts of the wings and belly are white. The Emperor Penguin chick is typically covered with silver‐ grey down and has a black head and white mask.
Slide 4:• It almost always breeds on stable pack ice near the coast and up to 18 km offshore. You will only find Emperor Penguins in Antarctica, they dont live anywhere else in the world.• Emperor penguins do not migrate, they spend the entire year in Antarctica and are one of the few animals to spend winter there.• Breeding colonies are usually located in areas where ice cliffs and icebergs shelter them from the wind.• The total population is estimated at around 400,000–450,000 individuals, which are distributed among 40 independent colonies.• Emperor penguins live on the Antarctic ice and feed in the waters of the Antarctic. • They even breed and lay their eggs during the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic during winter
Slide 5• The penguins start mating in March or April, when the temperature can be as low as −40 °C .• The female penguin lays one egg of 1 lb in May or early June.• After laying, the mothers nutritional reserves are exhausted and she very carefully transfers the egg to the male, before immediately returning to the sea for two months to feed.• The male spends the winter incubating the egg in his pouch, balancing it on the tops of his feet, for 64 consecutive days until hatching.• In these four months, the male may lose as much as 20 kg.• Hatching may take as long as two or three days to complete.• Newly hatched chicks are covered with only a thin layer and entirely dependent on their parents for food and warmth.• The female penguin returns at any time from hatching to ten days afterwards, from mid‐July to early August. Female takes over caring for the chick, feeding it by the food that she has stored in her stomach. • The male then leaves to take his turn at sea, spending around 24 days there before returning.• About 45–50 days after hatching, the chicks form a crèche, huddling together for warmth and protection.• From early November, chicks begin moulting into juvenile plumage, which takes up to two months and is often not completed by the time they leave the colony; adults cease feeding them during this time. All birds make the considerably shorter trek to the sea in December or January and spend the rest of the summer feeding there.
Slide 6 : Diet• The Emperor Penguins diet consists mainly of fish. • The diet of the Emperor penguin includes krill, fish, squid and other various crustaceans.• Fish are usually the most important food source, and the Antarctic silverfish makes up the bulk of the birds diet. • The Emperor Penguin searches for prey in the open water, in ice‐free areas of open water.• One of its feeding strategies is to dive to around 50 m, where it can easily spot sympagic fish swimming against the bottom surface of the sea‐ice; it swims up to the bottom of the ice and catches the fish. It then dives again and repeats the sequence about half a dozen times before surfacing to breathe.
Slide 7 : Predators• The Emperor Penguins predators include birds and aquatic mammals. • The Southern Giant Petrel is the predominant land predator of chicks.• It is responsible for up to 34% of chick deaths in some colonies though they often scavenge dead penguins as well. • The known aquatic predators are both mammals: 1) the Leopard Seal, which takes some adult birds, as well as fledglings soon after they enter the water, and the 2 ) Orca which takes adult birds.• If one of a breeding pair dies or is killed during the breeding season, the surviving parent must abandon its egg and go back to the sea to feed.
Slide 8 : • How does the species contribute to the diversity of life? (How does this species help the environment)?• It keeps specific fishes populations from not over populating.• Penguins are a significant source of specific animals (for example Leopard seals)
Slide 9• How do humans continue to impact the natural environment of your chosen species? How do humans interact and interfere with this species?• Humans continue to impact the natural environment of the Emperor Penguin by causing global warming. • Global warming causes the ice that the penguins live on to melt.• This causes a huge disruption in their population distribution.
Slide 10:• Other interesting facts/pictures (several slides) This slide will be included in the slide show presentation!