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

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

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

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 Blue Penguins

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

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

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

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 Crested Penguin

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

 
 
 
 
 
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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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