About how long does an emperor penguin egg take to hatch?

An emperor penguin egg takes about 65 days to hatch.

The female lays a single egg near the start of the Antarctic winter and transfers it to the male’s feet. He keeps it covered with a brood pouch, preventing the egg from touching the ice while the colony endures darkness, wind, and temperatures far below freezing.

Incubation is unusually long compared with many birds because emperor penguin breeding is synchronized with the seasonal cycle. The chick hatches when the returning female is expected to bring food from the ocean.

The egg itself is relatively large and pear-shaped. If it falls onto the ice during the transfer, it can freeze quickly, so the handover between parents is one of the most important moments in the breeding cycle.