Macaroni Penguin
Eudyptes chrysolophus
A golden crest, a heavy red bill — and millions of them, though far fewer than before.
Macaroni penguins have a thick golden crest that meets in the middle of the forehead, a big reddish bill and red eyes. Their scientific name, Eudyptes chrysolophus, means good diver with a golden crest, and they breed in huge colonies on islands around the Southern Ocean.
On the conservation status
Listed as Vulnerable. There are still about 6.3 million pairs, but that's 47% fewer than the 9 million a few decades earlier. Nobody is sure why; changing sea temperatures and competition with fur seals for food are suspects.
- Height
- About 70 cm
- Weight
- 4–7 kg
- Lifespan
- 20 years or more
- Diet
- Mostly krill, plus some fish
- Dive depth
- Usually 15–50 m; over 220 m
- Population
- About 6.3 million breeding pairs
The good stuff.
Two eggs, but only one counts
Macaronis lay two eggs each season. The second egg is bigger than the first, and it's usually the only one that hatches.
Late starters
Females don't start breeding until they're 5, and males until they're 6.
Long trips for food
A trip to sea to find food can last anything from a day to three weeks.
South Georgia's crash
About 5 million pairs nested on South Georgia in the 1980s. By 2002 there were fewer than 1 million.
Wiped out by a volcano
Volcanic activity destroyed a whole colony of about a million pairs on McDonald Island.
The biggest colonies
The Crozet Islands alone hold about 2.2 million pairs, including about a million on one small island, Île des Pingouins.
Wait, really?
- ✦
Chicks are ready to go to sea at 60 to 70 days old.
- ✦
No more than 1,000 live on the Falkland Islands.
- ✦
Their golden crest is what gave them the name macaroni.
What it sounds like
Loud, braying calls, with plenty of head-swinging displays at the colony.
We haven't found a recording we're allowed to share yet, so for now this one is a description.
Where you might see one
South Georgia and the Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard islands, some of the most remote places on Earth.
The trouble
- Changing sea temperatures affecting their food
- Competition for food from growing Antarctic fur seal populations
- Volcanic eruptions at some colonies
One real thing
Macaronis eat mostly krill, so what happens to krill happens to them. Check whether supplements and pet food at home contain krill oil — there are alternatives.
More ways to help