Magellanic Penguin - Spheniscus magellanicus

DESCRIPTION: 40-45 cm tall and 3.2-4.7 Kg weight. Adults have black backs and white fronts with two black bands on the neck. Their faces have a white crescent arching from their eye to their throat. Juveniles and chicks have one large band separating their face and their stomach. Their faces have cheek patches that range in color from white to dark grey.
DISTRIBUTION: Southern coasts of South America, from central Argentina to Central Chile, including Cape Horn, and Malvinas/Falkland Is. Migration from April to August, with the Atlantic population moving northward reaching central Brazil.
HABITAT: Marine, nests on islands or in mainland coasts, on hills of sand or clay. They nest in burrows, under bushes or in scrapes. Pelagic during migration.
BREEDING BIOLOGY: Colonial, colonies range from a few to 200,000 pairs. Individuals arrive at colony in September, laying two eggs in September-October, and the incubation is made by both sexes during 40-42 days. Chick rearing period ranges from 60-120 days. Sexual maturity is reached at 4-5 years old in females, 5-6 years old in males.

Photos by: P.G. Borboroglu, J. Deely, C. Sutter

FEEDING: Pelagic schooling fishes, like anchoíta (Engraulis anchoita), sardine (Sprattus fueguensis), hake (Merluccius hubbsi), and squids.
REPRODUCTIVE POPULATION: 1,200,000/1,500,000 pairs.
Conservation status (IUCN) and threats: “Near threatened” (IUCN Red List 2018). The population is estimated in around 1,300,000 pairs. Marked decline in some colonies in Central Patagonia, Argentina, but with an increase in northern colonies and a distribution limit expansion northward. Their main threats are oil pollution by spills, fishery mismanagement, and food availability changes potentially linked to climate variability.
SOURCE: Boersma, P.D., Frere, E., Cane, O., Pozzi L.M., Pütz, K., Raya Rey, A., Rebstock, G.A., Simeone, A., Smith, J., Van Buren, A, Yorio, P., and García Borboroglu, P. 2013. Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus). In PENGUINS: NATURAL HISTORY AND CONSERVATION (García Borboroglu, P.G. and Boersma P.D. eds.) University of Washington Press, Seattle U.S.A. 328 pp.