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The emperor is the giant of the penguin world and the most iconic of the birds of Antarctica. Gold patches on their ears and on the top of their chest brighten up their black heads. Emperors and their closest relative, the king penguin, have unique breeding cycles, with very long chick-rearing periods. The emperor penguins breed the furthest south of any penguin species, forming large colonies on the sea-ice surrounding the Antarctic continent. They are true Antarctic birds, rarely have seenseenseeingsee seen in the subantarctic waters.

So that the chicks can fledge in the late summer season, emperors breed during the cold, dark winter, with temperatures as low at -50°C and winds offonoutup up to 200km per hour. They trek 50–120 km (30–75 mls) over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of individuals. The female lays a single egg in May then passes it over to her mate to incubate afterduringbeforewhilst whilst she goes to sea to feed. For nine weeks the male fasts, losing 45% of his body weight.

The male balances the egg on his feet, which are protectingcoveredcoveringprotected covered in a thick roll of skin and feathers. The egg can be 70°C warmer than the outside temperature.