After courtship and breeding, the mommy penguin lays an egg. However, making a baby penguin is really hard work, so she gives the egg to the daddy penguin so she can go to the sea to eat lots of fish. This trip can take a long time, at least 2 months. While the female is gone,The male spends the winter incubating the egg balancing it on the tops of his feet, for 64 consecutive days until it hatches. The Emperor Penguin is the only species where this behavior is observed, since all other penguin parents take turns taking care of their egg. By the time the egg hatches, the male will have fasted for around 115 days. Not only is he really, really hungry, but it's flippin' cold! To survive the cold and winds of up to 120 mph, the males huddle together, taking turns in the middle of the huddle. In the four months of travel, courtship, and incubation, the male may lose as much as 40 lbs!
When the mommy penguin gets back, about ten days after the baby penguin hatches, She finds her mate among the hundreds of fathers by following his voice when he calls for her. She then takes over caring for the chick, feeding it by regurgitating the food that she has stored in her stomach. YUM! But the mommy and daddy are only together for a little while because the daddy takes his turn at sea, spending around 24 days there before coming back.
So I guess it could be worse...
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