Penguins are some of the most beautiful aquatic creatures that fascinate a lot of people across the world. A lot of romance-themed writers make references to the faithful relationships of penguins with their partners. These references are basically one of the reasons why so many people want to know whether or not penguins stick to one partner their entire lives.
An average penguin takes around 3-8 years to reach complete maturity. However, there are a lot of different smaller species in the penguin family where the penguins breeding starts at 3-4 years. The breeding season of penguins happens during spring all the way through summer every year.
A lot of scientists and nature biologists have observed that most of the penguins are in fact, monogamous. This means that a male penguin only mates with one female penguin in the mating season. Then again, there are a lot of other researches that show that a female penguin can have up to three different mates during one mating season while the male always has only one mate.
Do Monogamous Penguins Stay Together Throughout Their Lives?
Penguins do not stay with their mates throughout their lives. In fact, the monogamous penguins usually stay away from each other after the mating season in search of food and better habitats. Every year the penguins swim back to each other at their nests for the mating seasons.
The male penguins reach their nests approximately a week before their female partners every mating season. This is mainly because they want to establish the boundaries of their nesting area and also defend it from predators and other mating penguins.
Scientists and marine zoologists believe that the main reason why the penguins leave their partners is due to their difference in food preferences as well as sex. However, the large distance between the penguins doesn’t deter them from their love and commitment towards each other.
How Does a Penguin Enter into a Monogamous Relationship?
When a male penguin wants to attract a female during his first mating season, he prepares a nest. The male penguin uses pebbles to create the nest. The shape and type of nest he creates then attracts a female penguin towards him.
A lot of times the male penguins also bring a pebble for their mate as a gesture of courtship. The penguin searches different shores in search of the prettiest pebble according to him which will be a symbol of his courtship to the female penguin.
It is also important to note that a female penguin only attracts a new mate when her previous mate fails to return to their nests.
How Do Monogamous Penguins Share the Duties
The best part about monogamous penguins is that they share all the duties of nesting as well as caring for their chicks. This phenomenon is very rare and isn’t visible in the majority of animal species. The penguins take care of the food for their chicks as well as keep the eggs and the chicks warm together.
Conclusion:
Penguins are monogamous and only stick with one partner their entire lives. Only in extreme cases where the male partner hasn’t returned to this nest either one or more mating seasons in a row, the female penguin searches for a new mate.
References:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/monogamous-penguins-spend-most-their-year-apart
https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/penguin/reproduction
Image source:
- Pair of Monogamous Penguins by veverkolog / Pixabay License
- penguin family by Michelle_Raponi / Pixabay License