Emperor Penguins
By Aria R. Jensen
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………… 1
The Body…………………………………………………….. 2
A Penguin`s Dive…………………………………………. 3
Prey vs. Predators………………………………………..
Around and Around…………………………………….
The Globe……………………………………………………
Glossary……………………………………………………….
4
5
6
7
Introduction
Unlike most penguins, an emperor penguin lives in Antarctica. Also, not many
other birds have water-proof feathers. Their wings are not good for flying, but they are
AMAZING for swimming! The penguin has a torpedo-like body and webbed feet so it can
glide through the water.
Fun Fact!
There are three different kinds of ways to say a
group of penguins. The first way and most
common way to say it is “colony”. The second
way to say it is “rookery”. The third way to say it
may sound a bit funny. It is called a “waddle”.

1
The Body
The Emperor penguins beak is very unique. It does not have teeth. It does have a
beautiful orange-ish yellow-ish stripe on each side of its beak.
The Emperor`s feet are very important. It has
unreatractable claws on its feet that help them waddle on
the ice. The tail of the Emperor works like a third foot. It is
like a third foot because it helps them
not fall over.
to
Fun Fact!
The Emperor`s back and
When swimming,
An emperor penguin's body
belly are very useful. When the
emperor penguins
penguin is swimming around,
the penguin usually will stay safe. The back is black so if a
keep their feet
predator above water level is looking for lunch, a penguin
close to their tail
just looks like the deep, dark ocean. The penguins belly is
to help steer.
white because if a predator is deeper than the penguin, then
the predator will see the white of either the shallow waters or the
light of the sun. Emperor penguins are at least 48 inches and nine pounds.
2
.
A Penguin’s Dive
A penguin is very good at swimming. Especially when they dive, and they dive
DEEP! When a penguin is just going for a swim, they have to go with their colonies. They
usually hunt together too. Sort of like a pack of wolves. Or more like it, a pod of
dolphins. When a penguin is in danger, the other penguins in the pod
peck at the predator so it loosens its grip.
Fun Fact!
We emperor penguins
can dive much deeper
than any penguin.
They can submerge
themselves as deep as
1,755 feet.
A penguin can dive at average, 900 feet, at the most, can
be 1,500 feet. The emperor penguin can hold its breath for
up to 20 minutes.
An emperor penguin diving for dinner
3
Prey vs. Predators
The penguin`s natural predators are sea lions, leopard seals, fur seals, sharks and
killer whales. When a penguin is in danger, it constantly changes direction to confuse it`s
predator. When a leopard seal or a fur seal wants penguins for dinner and the penguin
is on land, the seals don`t have much of a chance to catch the penguin because the seals
are not good at moving around on land, but they are good at moving around in the
water.
The main land predators of the penguins are skuas,
sheathbills, and giant petrels. [Which are a couple of
Since emperor
kinds of other birds.] Skuas usually work together in
penguins are larger
pairs to get food. One of them distracts the penguin
than regular penguins,
parents, and the other one
they eat more food.
grabs the egg[s]. The
emperor penguin’s prey is krill,
small fish, or even small squid.
Fun Fact!
Small fish from the ocean
4
Around and Around
The life cycle of a penguin has 6 stages. The first stage is the mother lays the egg.
The second stage is the father incubating the egg. The third stage is the egg hatching.
The male keeps the chick on his feet even after it hatches because the ice is too cold for
the chick to stand on the ice. The penguin chick can go onto the ice when the mother
returns. When the mother returns the male can finally go to the ocean and get some
food because the male has been feeding on snow and ice fomonths.
Fun Fact!
Baby emperor
penguins can only
survive two minutes
without their parents.
Figure 1Life cycle of emperor penguins
5
The Globe
Even though it so cold in Antarctica, emperor penguins spend their entire life in the
cold climates either on the ice or in the water. Not many other animals could survive there
for very long, but the emperor penguin has a thick layer of fat and water-proof feathers
to keep him warm and toasty.
According to the New England Aquarium, all penguins live up to 80 percent in the
ocean, including emperor penguins. They dive into the freezing cold ocean water to
catch fish and other animals. They live on the ice until spring when the ice starts to melt
and break up.
Fun Fact!
Map of Antarctica
Emperor penguins live
opposite from polar bears.
Polar bears live in the
Northern Hemisphere.
6
Glossary
Unretractable [un-ree-track-tu-bul] claws which do not go in and out
Migrate [my-grate] when birds go South for the winter
Predator [pred-a-tur] a predator is an animal that catches another animal for food
Prey [pray] [1]The food of another animal[2] a caught animal for another animal`s food
Colony [col-u-nee] a group of the same species living together
7