Penguins are birds, of course, and like almost all other species of birds, penguins lay eggs. However, the similarities between penguin egg-related behavior and that of just about 99 percent of the rest of that of the bird kingdom begin and end there. For example, emperor and king penguins lay one egg per breeding season, while other species lay two, according to Penguins of the World. By comparison, many other birds lay one egg per day, if not more, according to All About Birds.
Laying the egg is just the beginning for the penguin. It also must be kept warm against the impossibly cold temperatures of its habitat, a job held by both the male and the female (also somewhat unique in the bird pantheon). For emperor penguins specifically, the male will keep the egg warm while the female hunts.
But erect-crested penguins have a unique ritual. As previously mentioned, they're one of the two species that lay two eggs. And the birds will uniformly reject the first egg, for reasons that science is just beginning to figure out.
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