Male penguin hold an egg between his feet
When The female Penguins lays egg. She then gives the egg to the father and leaves. The egg sits on top of the father's feet and under his brood flap. The brood flap is a loose piece of skin which covers the egg and holds it next to the father's body--kind of like an upside down kangaroo pouch. The father Penguin then incubates the egg.
It is very cold while the father Penguins incubate their eggs. They stand in a tight huddle for 2-3 months straight! The fathers don't eat anything, they just eat a little snow for moisture. They lose almost half of their body weight. Once in a while, the fathers will reach down and turn their eggs over to make sure that they don't freeze.
Because the father Penguins stand so close together, they conserve half of the body heat that they would lose if they didn't have others around.
When the chicks finally hatch they are hungry. Their father's then regurgitate a white secretion and feed it to the chicks.
After the chicks are born, their mothers come back to take care of them. At first, the fathers don't want to give up the babies, but they eventually do. They transfer the chick from the feet of the father Penguin to the feet of the mother Penguin. They have to be very careful when they transfer the chick, because if he falls on the ground for more than a few minutes, he will die. After the mother has the chick, the father Penguin hurries off to get himself something to eat. Can you imagine going for four months without eating? People can't do that. We would starve to death.
