What’s so cool: If you watched March of the Penguins, you’ll know what all the fuss is about. The breeding cycle of the emperor penguin is a heart-wrenching story of resilience, played out on remote sea-ice in Antarctica.
Description
Fluffy grey chicks hatch around August and moult in December so they can head to the ocean in late summer when food is plentiful. But this means that emperors must lay their eggs in the cold, dark depths of winter and share gruelling parental duties.
Cradling a single egg on their feet, males huddle together for warmth while their mates head to sea to feed, returning nine weeks later when the chicks hatch.
North or South: Located in the remote Weddell Sea, the Snow Hill emperor penguin colony is home to around 4,000 breeding pairs and is often unreachable due to thick pack ice.
But join an icebreaker cruise and you just might get close enough for a helicopter flight that takes you to within walking distance of this extraordinary spectacle.
Just as cool: It’s all about emperors at Snow Hill, but for maximum ticks on your Antarctic birdwatching list, head to the Falklands where – as well as king, rockhopper, Gentoo, macaroni and Magellanic penguins – you can spot everything from the black-browed albatross to the endemic Cobb’s wren.
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