King penguins breed in large colonies on many sub-Antarctic islands. Notable colonies are on Crozet Island, Prince Edward Island, Kerguelen Island, South Georgia and Macquarie Island. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 1,000,000 pairs. On the map the different coloured dots indicate the breeding locations of the two sub-species. Pale yellow dots represent A. p. patagonicus and orange dots indicate A. p. halli .
King penguins have a unique breeding cycle.
It takes 14 to 16 months to complete egg laying and chick rearing. So most pairs raise chicks at most twice in a three year period. The breeding cycle starts with adults coming ashore to moult and then returning to sea for 20 days to regain body reserves. The females lay a single egg which is incubated on the parents feet, both parents take turns to incubate the egg during the 54 day incubation period. The chicks remain with the parents for 30 to 40 days until they are large enough to join creches, at which time both parents go to sea to fetch food for the growing chicks.