Courtship and wedding ceremonies among these penguins are interesting. When looking for a wife, a male will bring a pebble and lay it at the feet of his prospective bride. If she accepts it, they become husband and wife. But it is very difficult to tell the difference between a male and a female. Sometimes even the penguins have this problem, and a male may mistakenly present a pebble to another male. This is an insult, of course, and results in a heated battle.

After an acceptable match is made, the pair forms a crude nest of some grass, sticks and mostly pebbles; then two eggs are laid. Each pair has its own private property boundaries and jealously guards its territory during incubation. But it is not unusual for one penguin to “borrow” pebbles and other building materials from a neighbor’s nest while he is not looking. This makes the rookery extremely noisy. While some engage in territorial disputes, others try to retrieve stolen property. Over such matters they often come to violent blows with beaks, flippers and claws.

The Emperor

The largest and most impressive of all are the emperor penguins, weighing about 40 kg (90 lbs.) each and standing nearly 120 cm (4 ft.) tall. They breed and hatch their young under the most forbidding circumstances of any known creature—with temperatures below −55° C. (−67° F.) in constant gales and severe blizzards.