Magellanic Penguins – Warm Water Species
A Declining Penguin of Coastal Argentina and Chile
© Rosemary Drisdelle
There are an estimated 1,300,000 breeding pairs of Magellanic Penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus, in the world, and they all breed in southern South America and the Falkland Islands. They are one of just a handful of penguin species that live year round in warmer waters north of Antarctica.
Magellanic Penguin Life Cycle
Magellanic Penguins spend their lives at sea, except when they come to shore to breed, returning to the same place with the same mate each year:
1. Magellanic Penguins begin to breed at four or five years of age. They gather at breeding colonies in late September (spring in the southern hemisphere).
2. Adults excavate or repair burrows. Where burrowing isn’t possible, they nest under rocks or vegetation or in shallow scrapes.
3. The female lays two eggs and remains with the eggs for two to three weeks while the male feeds at sea. Then the male takes over and the female goes to sea.
4. Eggs hatch after about forty days. Though the first chick to hatch may receive preferential treatment from the parents, both chicks often survive if there is sufficient food available. The parents continue to switch places, alternately looking after the chicks and foraging at sea.
5. Chicks first leave the nest after five weeks and begin feeding themselves at sea after nine or ten weeks.
6. After the breeding season is over the adults moult.
7. Adults return to sea to hunt until they breed again.
Facts About Magellanic Penguins
Like the Strait of Magellan, Magellanic Penguins get their common name from explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who came across the penguins in 1519:
* The birds forage over a distance of 500 km (about 300 miles) from the colony, diving 50 metres (165 feet), and sometimes going twice that depth. They often hunt in groups.
* They eat small ocean organisms, typically crustaceans, squid, and fish.
* Fully grown Magellanic Penguins are the largest of the warm water penguins: about 70 cm tall (a little over two feet). They weigh about 4 kg (9 lb).
* In order to let off excess heat in warmer weather, these penguins go bald around the eyes, then regrow feathers for winter.
* Magellanic penguins are shy birds, but they become accustomed to people if they see them often enough.
Threats to Magellanic Penguins
Sea lions, leopard seals, and orcas eat Magellanic penguins, while gulls, petrels and skuas take eggs and chicks. Pressures from human activities, however, represent a greater threat to this species, which is listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Species because of an apparent rapid decline in numbers:
* Offshore drilling for petroleum products causes oil slicks that foul the birds’ feathers and make it harder to stay warm.
* Overfishing threatens some colonies, particularly those that forage around the Falkland Islands.
* Chilean crab fisherman harvest the birds to use as bait in traps.
* Birds are often accidentally caught and drowned in fishing nets.
* Some colonies are prey to foxes, rats, cats, and human egg collectors.
Conservation efforts have begun—there are still lots of Magellanic penguins in the world and if we act now to reverse the threats that are causing decline we can save this species from possible extinction.
Story and image courtesy of Suite 101@
http://wild-birds.suite101.com/article.cfm/magellanic_penguins_warm_water_species
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