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Royal Penguins are medium-sized penguins, with an all-white front (including a white chin) and an all-black back. Their most outstanding features are bright orange-yellow whiskers on the forehead and a huge orange-pink bill. The irises are brown. Their legs and feet are skin-pink.

The Royal Penguin has now been given full species status, as Eudyptes schlegeli. They have been separated from the Macaroni Penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus.

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 Royal Penguin is available HERE .

Royal Penguins live on the subantarctic islands of Australia.

Royal Penguins are found on Macquarie Island and associated islands in the Macquarie Group.

Royal 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.

B. Hensen reports spotting Royal Penguins on Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean in December 1993. All photographic and sighting information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by B. Hensen.