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King penguins

King penguins King penguins with chick close up of King penguin King penguin chicks

King Penguin
Scientific Name: Aptenodytes Patagonicus 

The King Penguin is the second largest of the penguins after the Emperor penguin. They have yellowish patch on their chest below  their chin. They also have an orange-yellow tear-drop shaped ear patch on each side of their head. King penguins are tall. They can grow to about 90 cm, and can weigh up to 16 kg, but usually weigh between 11 and 13 kg.

map of breeding locations of King penguinsThe dots on this map show where King penguins live. They live in large colonies on many of the islands around Antarctica.  There may be more than one million pairs of King penguins that will lay eggs and care for chicks. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 1,000,000 pairs. 

It takes between 14 and 16 months for King penguins to lay eggs and raise their chicks to be on their own. The process for laying eggs begins when the adult King penguins come ashore and lose their feathers and grow new ones. This is called molting. Then, they go back out to sea for about 20 days to rebuild body reserves for egg laying. The female penguin will lay one egg which is transferred to the father's feet to be kept warm. The female will return to sea to feed for 21 days. The egg stays on the father's feet until the mother returns and the egg is transferred to mother's feet. She will keep the egg warm until it hatches. Next, 54 days after the egg was laid, the chick will hatch from the egg. This is called the incubation period.
In the spring the parents feed the chicks daily. The chicks will grow quickly and grow new feathers. After about 12 months the chicks are able to go off by themselves.
After the egg hatches, both parents take turns caring for the chick. One will stay with the chick while the other returns to sea to get food for itself and the chick. The chick will stay with the parents for about 40 days. By this time the chicks have grown fuzzy brown downy feathers and thick layer of blubber to keep the chick warm. Now, the chick will join with several other chicks to form a group called a crèche. The parents will then go to sea to feed. The parents will return every other day or so to feed the chick. All of this happens during the mild summer months. But, now, it is time for winter. The chicks will stay on shore and huddle together with their crèche for warmth and protection. Each chick's parents will bring it food every few days during the winter.

King penguins eat mostly fish. Sometimes they eat squid or krill. 
Information for this page comes from Pete and Barb's Penguin Pages and from Penguins Around the World

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Created by Tim Kruger  March 30, 2006
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