PLANET EARTH Ice Worlds

Each female calls to her mate, and he, recognizing her song, trumpets back. Reunited, at last. The mother feeds her chick for the first time. She's keen to start parenting but the father needs persuading to surrender the chick he's been caring for all winter. He must now put his chick at risk. In these temperatures it could freeze in seconds. The male will have to let go.



Eventually, the transfer to the mother is safely made. The chicks grow quickly on a diet of fish and squid（鱿鱼）. Soon they're keen to explore, but always with mother in tow. This chick is less fortunate. It's mother has not returned to claim it. Another orphan is searching for a new family, but this female already has a chick of her own. Some orphans receive too much mothering from penguins whose own chicks have not survived.



The urge to parent is so strong, that they will compete with one another to adopt any chick they find. Many of these squabbles（争吵） will end in tragedy as the poor chick is trampled to death. Those chicks that do have parents quickly learn survival skills. Even in spring, they must huddle together for warmth just as their fathers did in the depths of winter.