Penguin Species
Penguins
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 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
Emperor Penguins -
Aptenodytes forsteri
Population: 135,000 to 175,000 pairs
Current status: not globally threatened, stable with some local fluctuations
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 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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