Beauty in Black and White

Antarctic

Adelie penguins are the smallest and most common of all Antarctic penguin species. These penguins can be found in colonies on islands, beaches, and along the shores of the Antarctic coast. They can be recognized by the white rings around their eyes and tails that are shorter than those of other species. Their beaks are red with black tips. Their diet consists of tiny creatures like krill and small fish.

Chinstrap penguins are lovely penguins that live on large icebergs on the open ocean in the Antarctic. They have white faces and fine black lines running under the lower part of their chins. These are the most common penguins and have a population of about 13 million. They mostly dine on krill and fish and are considered to be near-shore feeders, feeding close to their breeding colonies.

Emperor penguins make their homes on the Antarctic peninsula and southern islands. These penguins are the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species. They have an orange "glow" to their cheeks. Adult Emperor penguins are black and white with areas of orange and yellow on their heads, necks, and breasts. These penguins have a diet that consists of Antarctic silverfish and other species of fish, krill, and some squid.

King penguins are the second-largest penguins and similar in appearance to Emperor penguins. They live in the sub-Antarctic belt. They have orange spots near their ears and on their necks and their cheeks are dark orange. The belly is white and the throat grey-white. These penguins mostly dine on lantern fish especially during the breeding season and in the winter include squid in their diet.

Gentoo penguins make their home on many of the islands of the Antarctic region. Their main colony is on the Falklands. These penguins have white patches around and behind their eyes that join on the crown. Their bills are reddish-orange and they have orange feet. Their diet consists of a mix of crustaceans, small fish, and squid.

Macaroni penguin populations extend from the sub-Antarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. These penguins have yellow and black feathers sticking out of the side of their heads and orange feather plumes. They mainly dine on krill but will also eat other crustaceans, small fish, and squid.

Africa

African or Blackfooted penguins live and breed on the islands off the Southern African coast. They have black upside-down U-shapes of their neck and black chins and face patches separated from the crown by a broad white band. Their diet includes small pelagic fish like pilchards, anchovies, horse mackerel, and herring. They might supplement their diets with squid and small crustaceans.

Australia and New Zealand

Royal penguins inhabit and breed on Macquarie Island which is in the southwestern Pacific Ocean halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. These penguins have orange feather plumes with white faces, black crowns and crests that join on the forehead. They are slightly larger than other crested penguins. They eat small fish and crustaceans, squid, and krill.

Little penguins are also called Little Blue, Blue and Fairy penguins and are the world's smallest penguins. Their populations can be found in Australia and New Zealand. Their upperparts are pale blue to dark grey-blue depending on their age, season, and subspecies. Their diet consists of small fish, anchovies, pilchards, garfish and krill.

Erect-crested penguins can only be found in the New Zealand Subantarctic region. They are known for the upright yellow feather plumes of their crests. They are one of the largest of the crested penguins. These penguins eat mostly krill and squid but might include some small fish in their diet.

Fiordland penguins are the timidest of the crested penguins, They live in New Zealand, These penguins have sulphur-yellow crests running above their eyes and ending in a dropping plume. Their heads, throats, and upperparts are black and underparts white. They eat fish larvae, small fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and krill.

Snares penguins make their home on the Snares Islands in New Zealand. They can be recognized by their black heads, throats, and upperparts and white underparts. They have robust conical bills and distinctive red eyes. These penguins feed mostly on krill but will also eat small fish and squid.

Yellow-eyed penguins are native to New Zealand and are considered to be the rarest of all penguins. Adult penguins have a band of yellow feathers going to the bill, circling the eyes and up around the head. These penguins dine on red cod, opal fish, sprat, and squid.

South America

Galapagos penguins make their home on the Galapagos Islands. They have large black bills and a narrow white line around their faces. These are the smallest of the South American penguins. Their diet consists of small fish like sardines and mullet and can include crustaceans.

Humboldt penguins live in Northern Chile and Peru. They are similar to Magellanic penguins but don't have a second dark breast band and have a wider white band around the head, Their eyes are reddish-brown and their bills are larger. They mostly feed on fish particularly anchovies, herring, and smelt.

Magellanic penguins were named after explorer Ferdinand Magellan who first came upon the species in 1519 on his first voyage around the tip of South America. These are the largest of the warm weather penguins and are only found on the Falkland Islands and South America. Their heads and upperparts are black except for two broad white stripes beneath the throat. One stripe runs behind the cheeks and above the eye to join the pinkish gape and the other runs adjacent to the white underparts and they merge above the legs. These penguins enjoy small fish like anchovies, sardines, and sprats.

Rockhopper penguins are distinguished from other crested penguins by their smaller size and the decorative feather tufts on their heads, They have reddish-brown bills, red eyes, and their feet and legs are pink. Their diet consists of krill and small crustaceans and can include shrimp, crabs, lobsters, or crayfish as well as squid and myctophid fish.

Northern rockhopper penguins breed in cool temperate climates including on the islands of Gough and Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean and St. Paul and Manchester in the Indian Ocean.

Southern rockhopper breeds on the Falkland Islands, Argentina and Chile, with breeding colonies around Cape Horn in South America, and Gough, Prince Edward, Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland and Antipodes Islands in the southern Indian Ocean.

Eastern rockhopper penguins are mostly found breeding on Campbell Island in New Zealand, but their numbers have declined immensely.