Both African penguin parents take part in incubating the egg for 40 days using a “brood patch,” a patch of a bare skin at the base of the belly, to provide direct heat.
Incubation is shared amongst African penguins between both parents and lasts for about 40 days.
All African penguins have a patch of bare skin at the base of their bellies, called a “brood patch,” that helps the parent provide direct heat to their eggs for incubation.
After the eggs hatch, the parenting pair feeds their young for about one month by regurgitating food into the hatchling’s mouth.
• Image | © Cassidy Mills, Some Rights Reserved, Unsplash
• Sources | (Cooper, 1978; Crawford, et al., 2006, 2008; Pearce, 2011; Shannon & Crawford, 1999)
