Magellanic penguin

The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is the banded penguin of southern South America: 24 to 26 in (61 to 66 cm) tall and 9 to 15 lb (4 to 7 kg), with black and white bands on its head, neck and breast and pink skin around the eye.¹ It nests in burrows it digs or under bushes, and spends about half the year at sea.² Falkland Islanders call it the jackass, for a loud, mournful call like a donkey's bray.¹ Its Falklands neighbors are the gentoo, king and rockhopper, and our penguin species guide compares it with the rest.

Where does the Magellanic penguin live?

On the coasts and islands of Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands: BirdLife International counts 67 breeding sites in Argentina, at least 31 in Chile and at least 100 in the Falklands.³ Nesting habitat runs from scrub and grassland in Argentina to tussock grass in the Falklands and temperate forest in Chile.³

From April to August the Atlantic birds migrate north, following the Argentine anchovy, to northern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.⁴³ One bird from the Falklands covered 1,653 miles (2,661 km) in 75 days.¹

How many Magellanic penguins are there?

About 1.1 to 1.6 million breeding pairs, or 2.2 to 3.2 million mature birds, in BirdLife's 2020 estimate for the IUCN Red List: about 900,000 pairs in Argentina, at least 100,000 in the Falklands, and 144,000 to perhaps 500,000 in Chile.³ A 2026 study of 65 colonies, from Río Negro to Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands, projects about 1.28 million pairs in Argentina in 2024 (48% more than in 1996), though its average rise of about 2% a year is not statistically significant.⁵ The birds are shifting north, so visitable colonies differ sharply:

Punta Tombo's ticket site still advertises more than 400,000 pairs, the old peak rather than today's count.⁸⁴ Young birds from Punta Tombo help San Lorenzo grow, researchers say.⁹

Where is the best place to see Magellanic penguins?

Punta Tombo, in Argentina's Chubut province, to walk among them; Gypsy Cove, outside Stanley, if you arrive in the Falklands by ship. Colonies open to visitors:

Our pick is Punta Tombo in December or January. Its self-guided trail runs about 2.2 miles (3,500 m) on boardwalk and marked path, and penguins cross it freely; plan 2 to 4 hours there and 6 to 8 hours for the day from Trelew or Puerto Madryn, arriving by 8 to 11 a.m., when birds are most active.¹⁰ It is not for travelers without a car or a tour, the only ways in.¹⁰ In 2025 the province enlarged the reserve to 3,786 acres (1,532 ha).²²

On Isla Martillo, which Ushuaia's tourism office calls Tierra del Fuego's only penguin colony, about 100 gentoos nest among the Magellanics; BirdLife's assessment also lists colonies on Staten Island and Observatorio Island.¹⁶³⁷³ Estancia Harberton, which owns the island, says the walking tour is a Piratour concession. Piratour's landing uses stairs and a gangway, unsuitable for limited mobility; it publishes no prices, and the estancia's entry fee is paid on top.³⁷²³¹⁸ For Magdalena's ferries, see our Punta Arenas page. Do not plan on Seno Otway, the colony about 37 miles (60 km) from Punta Arenas that older guides still list: the local paper reported in 2018 that the penguins had abandoned it and it had been closed for three seasons, and a Punta Arenas penguin reserve's guide, updated in December 2025, says it is still closed.⁴⁰³⁹

When is the best time to see Magellanic penguins?

December and January, when chicks are growing and colonies are busiest.¹⁰ At Punta Tombo:

In the Falklands, eggs come from mid-October to mid-November, chicks fledge in February, and colonies are deserted by late April.¹ Piratour warns that Martillo trips may see fewer penguins early and late in the season.¹⁷

Which cruises give the best odds of seeing Magellanic penguins?

Ones that call at Stanley, land on the outer Falklands islands, or stop at Puerto Madryn; the species does not breed in Antarctica or on South Georgia.³ Lowest 2026-27 fares we found:

Our pick for Magellanics is the Holland America sailing: the lowest fare here, as the chicks fledge, with calls at the gateways to Punta Tombo, Gypsy Cove, Isla Martillo and Magdalena Island.²⁴⁴ We saw no excursion list, and an organized Punta Tombo trip from Puerto Madryn takes 5 to 6 hours there and back, so check the port hours.¹⁰ Skip it if you want to stand in Antarctica: IAATO classes ships of more than 500 passengers as cruise-only, with no landings, and lists Oosterdam at 2,388; an Antarctic Treaty measure adopted in 2009 to the same effect is not yet in force.³⁰²⁹ See our big-ship Antarctica cruises guide. The HX voyage reaches Puerto Madryn on April 3, after Punta Tombo's tickets stop on March 30 and as the colonies empty, so San Lorenzo is its penguin outing.¹³¹¹¹⁰

How close can you get to Magellanic penguins?

It depends on the country. The Falklands' Countryside Code sets 20 ft (6 m), and asks you to stay on the outside of colonies, give animals right of way, and never feed or touch them.³¹ Watch your feet too: burrows run up to 6 ft (2 m) into the peat, and Falklands Conservation warns against treading through a burrow roof, listing collapse from footfall as a threat.¹⁷ The birds are shyer than other Falklands penguins and dive into a burrow or the sea when disturbed.¹

Punta Tombo asks you to keep 6.5 ft (2 m) away, stay on marked trails and give penguins right of way; drones, pets and food for the birds are banned.⁸¹⁰ Magdalena Island uses the same 6.5 ft (2 m) rule, with no more than an hour ashore, guides certified by CONAF, and no drones.⁶

Why are Magellanic penguins called Magellanic?

For Ferdinand Magellan. Britannica says the species is named for him, while Antonio Pigafetta, who sailed with him in 1520, is credited with first sighting it.³⁸ Coasting south, Pigafetta wrote, the fleet found two islands full of black "geese" that did not fly, lived on fish and were "so fat that it was necessary to skin them rather than to pluck them"; Spain's national natural history museum files that passage under the Magellanic penguin.³²

What is special about Magellanic penguins?

They live underground and come back to the same partner. Magellanics nest in burrows they dig or under bushes, and unlike most penguins, most of their chicks never gather in crèches.²³⁸ At Punta Tombo, 83% of females and 86% of males keep the same mate from one year to the next, and 70% of males return to the same nest.⁴²

Are Magellanic penguins the same as African penguins?

No. Both belong to the genus Spheniscus, but the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) breeds only in South Africa and Namibia and has one broad black breast band.³³ It is also far rarer: BirdLife counted about 19,800 mature African penguins in 2023 and listed it as Critically Endangered in 2024, against 2.2 to 3.2 million mature Magellanics.³³³

What is the lifespan of a Magellanic penguin?

Ten to 15 years in the wild, says Falklands Conservation, with first breeding at 3 to 5.¹ Some live far longer: University of Washington researchers say adults can live more than 30 years, and a male banded as a chick at Punta Tombo in 1985 was breeding at San Lorenzo in 2017, aged 32.⁴³⁹ They eat mainly small fish and squid, and dive up to almost 330 ft (100 m), though usually a few dozen meters.¹³ Sea lions are the main predator at sea, and in the Falklands striated caracaras may take small chicks from burrows.¹

Are Magellanic penguins endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List has rated the species Least Concern since its 2020 assessment, made by BirdLife International, after Near Threatened from 2000 to 2018; the trend is still listed as decreasing.³⁶³ Falklands Conservation's species page still calls it Near Threatened, the older category.¹ The pressures are real:

• Rain and heat. At Punta Tombo, rainstorms killed 50% and 43% of chicks in two seasons, and storms have grown more frequent over 30 years.³⁴³⁵³ On January 19, 2019, the shade temperature there reached 111°F (44°C) and killed at least 354 penguins, 264 of them adults.⁴³
• Oil. Pollution killed more than 20,000 adults and 22,000 juveniles a year on the Argentine coast in the 1980s and early 1990s; in Chubut that is now fewer than 100 birds a year.³
• Fishing and food. Birds die as bycatch in gillnets, trawls and purse-seines, and fisheries may cut their food, such as anchovy and juvenile hake; at Punta Tombo, starvation is the leading cause of chick deaths.³⁴²
• Shrinking colonies. Magdalena fell 85.4% in 15 years and Seno Otway 89% in 11; Falklands burrows are threatened by drying peat and flooding.³⁷

Research at Punta Tombo began in 1982 because a company planned to turn its penguins into golf gloves, meat and oil.³⁵ At the Falklands' monitored colony, Gypsy Cove, the long-term trend is fluctuating-stable, with a decline over the last 10 years, and no bird flu was found in Magellanics in 2024-25.⁷