- Spheniscus magellanicus
Identification
70 cm (27.5")
Adult: Blackish-grey above and white below. Head blackish with broad white band from bill-base, curving over eye to meet on upper breast enclosing black throat. Narrow black horseshoe band on breast extending down flanks to thigh area. Bill blackish with grey band and narrow fleshy margin at base, feet blackish.
Juvenile: Pale grey face with diffuse breast band, no pink patch at base of bill.
Similar Species
Adult differs from Humboldt Penguin (S. peruvianus) in double breast band, wider white stripe over eye, thinner bill and reduced pink facial skin. Juvenile distinguished by darker face smudging and lack of pink bill base.
Distribution
Atlantic coast of South America from about 40°S southwards to Cape Horn and on the Pacific coast north to Santa Maria Island, Chile. Also breeds on the Falkland Islands and on the Juan Fernandez Islands off Chile.
Non-breeders occur north to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and about 30°S off Chile.
Vagrants recorded in Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[2[5].
Habitat
Nests in burrows close to the shore otherwise at sea, often in groups and further from shore than Humboldt Penguin.
Status
Classified as Near Threatened [1]
Behaviour
Breeding
Breeds throughout the year (September-April on the Falklands[3]). Colonial breeder on grassy islands, woodlands, sandhills and coastal bluffs. Nests in burrows in guano or sand, holes among rocks etc. lined with leaves, feathers and small stomes. Sometimes nests above ground. Eggs: two, sometimes 1, chalky-white, incubated by both sexes and young tended by both sexes.
Diet
They eat small fish, particularly pilchards and anchovies, also cuttlefish and squid.
Vocalisation
Voice: A braying call.
References
- BirdLife International. 2017. Spheniscus magellanicus (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697822/0. Downloaded on 22 May 2018.
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Falklands Conservation - Magellanic penguin (retrieved from http://www.falklandsconservation.com/wildlife/penguins/magellanic on 22 May 2018)
- Jaramillo, A. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117409
- Martínez, I., Christie, D.A., Jutglar, F., Garcia, E.F.J. & Kirwan, G.M. (2018). Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52471 on 22 May 2018)
- Shirihai, H. (2002) A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife. The Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and the Southern Ocean. Princeton University Press: Princeton & Oxford.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Magellanic Penguin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Magellanic_Penguin
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
