Macaroni Penguin - Definition and Overview

Macaroni Penguin Conservation status: Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Sphenisciformes Family: Spheniscidae Genus: Eudyptes Species: chrysolophus
Binomial name
Eudyptes chrysolophus (Brandt, 1837)

The Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) is a species of penguin closely related to the Rockhopper Penguin.

This is a black and white penguin with a yellowish orange plume above its eye. It generally lays two eggs, abandoning the first. Its vital statistics are around 4.5kg and 45-55cm tall. It eats squid, krill and other crustaceans. The eggs hatch around 34 days after they are laid.

The Macaroni Penguin breeds in at least 216 colonies at 50 sites, including southern Chile, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands, Bouvet Island, Prince Edward Islands of South Africa, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and very locally on the Antarctic Peninsula.

External link

• Macaroni penguins page (http://www.penguins.cl/macaroni-penguins.htm) from the International Penguin Conservation Web Site (http://www.penguins.cl/)