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2

Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) Size: 50-90 cm Weight: 5-8.5 kg (male), 4.5-8.2 kg (female)

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Gentoo Penguins are small black-and-white penguins. Their front and underwings are all-white, while the head, throat, back, upperwings and tail are all black. Their irises are white. They have triangular white wisps above their eyes and spare white specks on the head and the nape of the neck. The bill is orange, ecxept for the top of the upper mandible, which is black. The legs and feet are pink.

Taxonomy, classification See Gentoo Penguin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Gentoo Penguin is available HERE . Gentoo Penguins live around the fringes of the Antarctic continent and on offshore islands. The only other southern continent they reach is Terra del Fuego in South America. In Australia Gentoo Penguins can be found on Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean. Gentoo Penguins are non-flying pelagic birds that spend most of their time out in the open ocean and in coastal waters. Penguins can also spend much of their time on ice.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting Gentoo Penguins on the Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, in December 1993. M. Mearns reports spotting Gentoo Penguins on the Antarctic continent in January 2005.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up portrait of a Gentoo Penguin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

Frontal view of a Gentoo Penguin (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Near-frontal view of Gentoo Penguin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

Dorsal view of a Gentoo Penguin (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

Gentoo Penguin telling the photographer to get out of the way (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Gentoo Penguin waving with one of its flippers (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

Gentoo Penguins swimming back to shore, presumably bringing food (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Direct comparison between a Gentoo Penguin back, and an Adelie Penguin, front (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Breeding information

Breeding season: ca. Dec - Feb

Eggs: 2

Incubation period: 34 -36 days

Fledging age: ca. 30 days

Gentoo Penguin chicks leave their nests at about 30 days of age. They then form "creches" or rookeries, before they go out to sea at an age of ca. 80-100 days.

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Male and female Gentoo Penguins incubate alternatingly, each bird staying on the nest one day at a time, while the other leaves in search of food.

Overview of part of a large Gentoo Penguin breeding colony (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Walking tracks of Gentoo Penguins to their breeding colony (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Walking track of Gentoo Penguins to a small breeding colony; note the steepness of the slope close to the water's edge (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Bowl

Material: Rocks

Height above ground: N/A

Gentoo Penguin nests can be substantial rock piles, formed into a shallow depression into which the eggs are laid.

Gentoo Penguins on their rock nests (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Gentoo Penguins on their rock nests (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 65 x 55 mm

Colour: White, off-white

Shape: Oval

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Fri, 22 February 2019, 5:41 +00:00