On the Falkland Islands, a remote island chain in the South Atlantic, penguins outnumber the population.
Penguins are cold-adapted, flightless birds known for living in the cold tundra of Antarctica. But of the world's 18 species of penguins, only two live on the southernmost continent. Penguins live on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere, from Australia to Africa. They can be found off the coast of South America, as well as on remote rocky islets at sea. The northernmost species, the Galapagos penguin, lives in the Galapagos Islands near the equator. A group of Adélie penguins nest near Cape Roiz in Antarctica and are the southernmost species.
From New Zealand to South Georgia, there are 10 places where wild penguins live.
Antarctica
Antarctica is a superb place. It is the southernmost continent, mostly uninhabited and almost completely covered in ice. It is also the highest, driest, and coldest continent and the continent with the largest penguin population, with more than 5 million breeding penguin pairs. However, only two species of penguins, emperor penguins and Adélie penguins, make their home in Antarctica throughout the year. Meanwhile, cap-banded penguins, macaroni penguins and Papuan penguins will spend some time on the Antarctic peninsula, but breed on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands.
Although winters in Antarctica are very cold, when winter comes, emperor penguins breed and lay eggs on sea ice. Male penguins are tasked with hatching their eggs in such harsh conditions, giving up their food for up to 4 months while raising their young.
Australia
While Antarctica is now considered home to penguins, research published in 2020 showed that the ancestors of ancient penguins actually originated in Australia and New Zealand. In modern times, only the smallest penguin species, the little penguin (also known as fairy penguin), still calls Australia its home. While Australia is known for its hot, arid climate, the southern coast has cool waters and a mild climate that allows little penguins to thrive. They live on the coast of the mainland, but the largest number is on outlying islands like Phillips Island, where there are about 32,000 settlements.
Argentina
Argentina is a country in South America that occupies most of the southern part of the continent. Here, the vast coastline and cold waters of the South Pacific support a large population of Magellanic penguins, a medium-sized penguin with white stripes on its head and chest. A protected area in Chubut province on the Atlantic coast called Punta Tombo is home to more than 200,000 breeding penguin pairs. Although the overall population is thought to be declining, in April 2020 a new settlement was discovered on a remote Argentine island.
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are a remote archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about 300 miles east of Patagonia in South America. Although this string of rugged islands has sandy beaches and cliff-lined shores and is inhabited by only 3,500 people, it is the true capital of the penguin world. Five species of penguins – Magellanic penguins, rockhopper penguins, Papuan penguins, king penguins and macaroni penguins – nest on the island, totaling nearly 1 million individuals. The islands are home to the largest number of Papuan penguins in the world (the origin of the word Papua is strange – Portuguese merchants in the 16th century first used Papua to refer to the indigenous population of India, perhaps because they had turban-like marks on their heads, so they were used as a common name for penguins).
The birds nest three miles from the coast, forming a "penguin highway" as they forage back and forth from the ocean. Penguin populations are declining all over the world, while the population of Papuan penguins in the Falkland Islands has grown significantly over the past 25 years.
Galapagos islands
The Galapagos Islands are a series of volcanic islands off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. Only one species of penguin, the Galapagos penguin, lives here. The islands straddle the equatorial line, making these penguins the only species to live in the Northern Hemisphere. The little penguins, only 20 inches tall, are able to climb into caves and crevices in rocky coastlines to escape the tropical heat on land. The Humboldt Current flows from Antarctica to the west coast of South America, bringing cool waters and schools of fish that penguins can survive despite northern latitudes. There are about 600 pairs of Galapagos penguins in the wild and are considered endangered.
Tristan da Cunha Islands
Tristan da Cunha is a small chain of extinct volcanoes in the South Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago is more than 1,000 miles away from its closest continental neighbors, South America and Africa, making it the most distant island chain in the world. Although the islands are small, they are important nesting grounds for northern rockhopper penguins. The inaccessible island is only 5 square miles and is home to 27,000 penguins.
These numbers mark a sharp decline in bird populations since the 50s of the 20th century, when the number of birds on some South Atlantic islands exceeded 1 million. The species is now endangered, and researchers believe the decline is largely due to rising ocean temperatures and reduced prey.
New Zealand
Although New Zealand is known for its tropical destinations, it is home to four species of penguins that thrive in the cold snaps of the Southern Ocean – little penguins, trap penguins, yellow-eyed penguins and fjord-crowned penguins. Penguins can be found along most of the coastline of New Zealand's South Island, as well as on smaller outlying islands further south. The endangered yellow-eyed penguin is the largest penguin found in New Zealand and the rarest penguin, with an estimated 4,000 individuals. Only Galapagos penguins outnumbered it.
South Africa
South Africa has only recently become a habitat for penguins. For most of its history, African penguins have lived on various islands along the southern African coastline, from Angola to Mozambique. However, in 1980, two settlements were established on the mainland beach near Cape Town. Researchers have determined that these continental settlements can now thrive as growing populations drive away predators that would otherwise kill penguin colonies in large numbers. However, since the 2020s, the number of penguins across Africa has declined rapidly, and the species is now considered endangered.
Bondi Islands and Opposite Plantation Islands
The Bondi Islands and the Opposite Archipelago are two remote island chains deep in the South Pacific. Both island chains are located more than 400 miles southeast of New Zealand. These uninhabited lands are steep and rocky and are the only breeding grounds for erect crested penguins. These penguins are among the least studied, and little is known about their migration patterns. They are observed arriving on the island in September, where they breed and raise their offspring until February 14, after which they return to the sea and do not reappear on land until September of the following year.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are a steep, mountainous island chain in the South Atlantic with no permanent inhabitants. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was an outpost used by whalers on the island, but it has since disappeared. In modern times, they are best known as breeding grounds for a large number of penguins, including macaroni penguins, king penguins, and cap-banded penguins.
As one of the six species of crested penguins, macaroni penguins get their name from the long yellow feathers above their eyes, which look a lot like macaroni. They congregate in large and dense breeding grounds, numbering more than 100,000 individuals. In total, there are more than a million pairs of macaroni penguins available for breeding on the island.