Unsorted Wild Birds

Penguin Species

NOTE: Penguin population numbers and current status from del Hoyo, et al., 1992. 32

Please click on text or photo link for further information on the species.


Adélie Penguins –
Pygoscelis adeliae

Distribution: circumpolar on Antarctic continent within limits of pack-ice (Marchant, 1990); is restricted to the Antarctic (along with emperor penguins).

Population: 4,169,390 breeding pairs (del Hoyo, et al., 1992)

Current status: not globally threatened; stable or increasing


African Penguin

African Penguins –
Spheniscus demersus

Distribution: South African waters population: 50,000 to 171,000 pairs

Current status: insufficiently known (IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals), CITES II; general decline continues


Chinstrap Penguins –
Pygoscelis antarctica

Distribution: antarctic and subantarctic islands population: 6.5 million pairs

Current status: not globally threatened


Empero Penguins

Emperor Penguins –
Aptenodytes forsteri

Population: 135,000 to 175,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened, stable with some local fluctuations


Erect-crested Penguins

Erect-crested Penguins –
Eudyptes sclateri

Distribution: Australia; New Zealand; and Bounty, Campbell, and Auckland Islands

Population: more than 200,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; generally stable


Fiordland-crested Penguins

Fiordland-crested Penguins –
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus

Distribution: subantarctic islands and New Zealand

Population: 5,000 to 1 0,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; considered near-threatened, though stable


Galapagos Penguins –
Spheniscus mendiculus

Distribution: Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, almost astride the equator; is the most northerly penguin species

Population: 6,000 to 15,000 total birds

Current status: endangered (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species List)


Gentoo Penguins –
Pygoscelis papua

Distribution: circumpolar in subantarctic and antarctic waters; avoid pack ice and continental coasts, except near the Antarctic peninsula; usually remain near breeding islands throughout year (Marchant, 1990)

Population: 260,000 to 300,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; generally stable


Humboldt Penguins –
Spheniscus humboldti

Distribution: islands off the west coast of South America and along the coast of Peru and Chile

Population: 20,000 total birds

Current status: insufficiently known (IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals), CITES I


King Penguins

King Penguins –
Aptenodytes patagonicus

Population: more than 1 million pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; stable or increasing


Little or Fairy Penguins –
Eudyptula minor

Distribution: southern Australia and New Zealand

Population: less than 1 million total birds

Current status: not globally threatened


Macaroni Penguins –
Eudyptes chrysolophus

Distribution: subantarctic islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Population: 11,654,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened, generally increasing


Magellanic Penguins –
Spheniscus magellanicus

Distribution: Falkland Islands and along the coast of Chile and Argentina

Population: 4.5 to 10 million birds

Current status: not globally threatened


Rockhopper Penguins –
Eudyptes chrysocome

Distribution: subantarctic islands population: 3.5 million pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; possibly stable


Royal Penguins

Royal Penguins –
Eudyptes schlegeli

Distribution: Macquarie and Campbell Islands; also around the New Zealand coast

Population: 850,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; stable


Snares Island Penguins –
Eudyptes robustus

Distribution: restricted to Snares Island, south of New Zealand

Population: 33,000 pairs

Current status: not globally threatened; presently stable


White-flippered Penguins

White-flippered Penguins –
Eudyptula albosignata albosignata

Distribution: Banks Peninsula and Motunau Island, near Canterbury, New Zealand

Population: only around 3,750 breeding pairs

Current Status: Endangered


Yellow-eyed Penguin

Yellow-eyed Penguins –
Megadyptes antipodes

Distribution: southeast New Zealand

Population: 1,540 to 1,855 pairs

Current status: vulnerable (IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals); population has decreased 40% in last 40 years

 
 
 
 
 

Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.

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