Gentoo penguin - Pygoscelis papua

DESCRIPTION: The third largest penguin (5,5-7,5 Kg; 65 cm tall). Males typically larger than females. In the adult, throat, exterior portion of the wing, and back black. Ventral surface from the breast down to the vent, white. Black face and head with the exception of two white variably sized patches above, and usually continuous with, white eye-rings and connected via a thin white band over the crown of the head. Long black tail. Red-orange bill except for along the upper mandible and at the tip, which are black. The upper mandible may also have an elongated yellow to red spot. Pink to orange to red feet. Gentoos can have widely varying morphologies, possibly adaptive to local oceanographic conditions. Chick gray dorsally from the crown to the tail and white ventrally including throat.
DISTRIBUTION: Sub-Antarctic islands with the main colonies on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula; smaller populations on Macquarie Island, Heard Islands, Crozet and Sandwich.
HABITAT: Marine, rocky coasts or flat beaches. Nest on flat beaches or in tussock grasses, or on low lying gravel beaches and dry moraines.
BREEDING BIOLOGY: They are much smaller than is typical of other Pygoscelid species, with the largest including only c. 6,000 breeding pairs. The settlement at Possession Island, Crozet Island is by the end of June, early July, egg laying of two eggs from to July to late November. Incubation lasts 35-37 days. Fledging at 89 days. Age of maturity at 2 years old.

Photos by: J. Weller, J. Deely, C. Sutter and H. Lynch

FEEDING: Crustaceans, fish, and squid, although the relative mix of each component varies widely within its breeding range, from being heavily dominated by Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in the South Shetlands to being entirely piscivorous in the South Orkneys.
REPRODUCTIVE POPULATION: 387,000 pairs.
CONSERVATION STATUS AND THREATS: Least Concern (IUCN Red List 2018). Their main threats are disturbance by humans, local pollution, and potential interaction with fisheries.
SOURCE: Lynch, H.L. 2013. The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua). 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.