Adult King Penguins returning to the breeding colony does not happen all at once as it does with some other penguin species, thus they frequently change partners for each breeding cycle.


The King Penguin has an unusually prolonged breeding cycle, taking some 14–16 months from laying to offspring fledging.


The reproductive cycle begins in September to November, as birds return to colonies for a prenuptial molt. Those that were unsuccessful in breeding the previous season will often arrive earlier. They then return to the sea for up to three weeks before coming back ashore in November thru January.


Breeding King Penguins break up into two general groups;
-Early breeders lay their eggs in November which hatch around mid-January. The chicks reach about 90% of their adult weight by April when they are independent.
-Late breeders lay and incubate their eggs from January until March.


King penguins don't make a nest, since they balance the single egg, once laid, on their feet covered with a flap of abdominal skin called the brood patch.


King Penguins have roughly a 55 day incubation period. During that time the egg is being shuffled from one parent to the other every 6-18 days. While the one parent incubates the egg, the other parent then goes back into the sea on a food foraging trip. Hatching can take a total of 2-3 days.


Once the chicks have hatched, they continue to be protected on the parent’s feet and the brood patch for another 30-40 days, until they are able to regulate their own temperatures. It can still be a wait of up to 3-14 days between feeds as the parents swapping duties when one of them returns to the sea to forage for food.


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