Penguin Purse 12cm

Physical Characteristics
The Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching 122 cm (48 in) in height and weighing anywhere from 22-37 kg (48-82 lb). The dorsal parts are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast and bright-yellow ear patches. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine lifestyle.

Habitat
The Emperor Penguin has a circumpolar distribution in the Antarctic. 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 as many as 40 independent colonies.

Behaviour
The Emperor Penguin is a social animal in its nesting and its foraging behaviour - birds hunting together may coordinate their diving and surfacing. Individuals may be active day or night. A mature adult travels throughout most of the year between the nesting area and ocean foraging areas; the species disperses into the oceans from January to March. As a defence against the cold, a colony of Emperor Penguins forms a compact huddle (also known as the turtle formation) ranging in size from ten to several hundred birds, with each bird leaning forward on a neighbour. Those on the outside tend to shuffle slowly around the edge of the formation, producing a slow churning action, and giving each bird a turn on the inside and the outside.

Breeding
After laying a single egg, the mother's 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 transfer of the egg from one penguin's feet to another can be awkward and difficult, and many couples drop the egg in the process. When this happens, the chick inside is quickly lost, as the egg cannot withstand the freezing temperatures on the icy ground. Hatching may take as long as two or three days to complete, as the shell of the egg is thick. Newly hatched chicks are semi-altricial, covered with only a thin layer of down and entirely dependent on their parents for food and warmth, perching on their parent's feet and snuggling into their feathery down.

Diet
The Emperor Penguin's diet consists mainly of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. Fish are usually the most important food source, and the Antarctic silverfish makes up the bulk of the bird's diet. The Emperor Penguin searches for prey in the open water of the Southern Ocean, in either ice-free areas of open water or tidal cracks in pack ice. One of its feeding strategies is to dive to around 50 m, where it can easily spot sub-ice fish swimming against the bottom surface of the sea-ice. The penguin then 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.

Strange and Interesting Facts
Both male and female Emperor Penguins forage for food up to 311miles from colonies while collecting food to feed chicks, covering an astounding 51-904miles per individual per trip.