Do penguins make nests?

Penguin facts: Facts that you didn't know about penguin nesting

Penguins live in the southern oceans and breed on ice floes or rocky shores. They do not make nests but lay their eggs on the ground. However, the parent birds still protect both eggs and young chicks from the freezing air and keep them warm. The egg rests on the penguin's foot and is kept snug in a special brood pouch. Inside the brood pouch, a bald area of skin supplies heat from the penguin's body to the egg or the chick.

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Studies have shown that individuals of most penguin species return each year to the same rookeries. In addition, most penguins return to the same nesting site within the rookery. Studies have indicated that fidelity to the previous year's nest site was 99% for male Adélie penguins, 94% for chinstraps, and 63% for gentoos.

Rockhoppers appear to have an amazingly precise breeding timetable, with males returning to the spot of their former nest virtually on the same day each year, regardless if weather or environmental factors have changed from the previous breeding season.

Males arrive first to the rookeries to establish and defend their nesting sites. In a study on Adélie and chinstrap penguins, females arrived one day and five days after the males, respectively.

When it is time to breed, mature birds return to the rookery where they hatched. This results in large numbers of penguins at a single rookery rather than penguins colonizing new areas. Some penguin rookeries number millions of birds.

Various penguin species may share a particular rookery site. It is not uncommon to find gentoos nesting near Adélie and chinstrap penguins for example, but nesting areas within the rookery are kept segregated by each species.

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