What keeps the egg warm?

A fold of skin called a brood pouch

How do males survive extreme cold?

By huddling together and taking turns in the center

Emperor Penguin Quiz: Winter Breeding in Antarctica

In the darkest, coldest months of the year, the largest penguins on Earth raise their chicks on the sea ice, and this emperor penguin quiz explains how. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on their size, winter breeding, the egg handover, the brood pouch, huddles, long fasts, foraging trips, deep dives, March of the Penguins and threats from melting sea ice.

Start Emperor Penguin Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Size
What record does the emperor penguin hold?
Season
When do emperor penguins breed?
Egg
How many eggs does a female lay?
Care
Who incubates the egg?
Pouch
What keeps the egg warm?
Time
Roughly how long do males incubate the egg?
Huddle
How do males survive extreme cold?
Females
What do females do during incubation?
Dive
How deep can emperor penguins dive?
Threat
What is the biggest threat to emperor penguins?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What record does the emperor penguin hold?
Answer: Largest living penguin
Adults stand over a meter tall.
Q2: When do emperor penguins breed?
Answer: In the Antarctic winter
They are unusual in this.
Q3: How many eggs does a female lay?
Answer: One
She passes it to the male.
Q4: Who incubates the egg?
Answer: The male
He keeps it on his feet.
Q5: What keeps the egg warm?
Answer: A fold of skin called a brood pouch
It covers the egg.
Q6: Roughly how long do males incubate the egg?
Answer: About two months
They fast the whole time.
Q7: How do males survive extreme cold?
Answer: By huddling together and taking turns in the center
Temperatures can drop below minus 40.
Q8: What do females do during incubation?
Answer: Travel to sea to feed
They return around hatching time.
Q9: How deep can emperor penguins dive?
Answer: More than 500 meters
They hold their breath for minutes.
Q10: What is the biggest threat to emperor penguins?
Answer: Loss of sea ice
They breed on stable sea ice.

Emperor Penguin Quiz – Winter Breeding in Antarctica

The emperor penguin is the largest living penguin, standing over a meter tall. Unusually, it breeds during the Antarctic winter on sea ice. The female lays one egg and passes it to the male before heading to sea to feed.

The male balances the egg on his feet under a brood pouch for about two months, fasting the whole time. Males huddle together, taking turns in the warmer center, as temperatures fall below minus 40 degrees Celsius. Females return around hatching time.

Emperors can dive more than 500 meters to hunt fish, krill and squid. The 2005 documentary March of the Penguins made them famous. Loss of stable sea ice is now their biggest threat.

What This Quiz Teaches

Animal lovers will enjoy these questions.

How big emperors are
When they breed
How males care for eggs
How they survive the cold
What threatens them

Did You Know?

Satellites find colonies by spotting guano stains.
Chicks gather in creches as they grow.
Emperors may walk tens of kilometers to colonies.
The US listed them as threatened in 2022.
They can lose much of their body weight while fasting.