Rockhopper penguin

The southern rockhopper is the smallest of the crested penguins: a red-eyed bird about 19 in (48 cm) tall and 4.4 to 8.4 lb (2 to 3.8 kg), with a thin yellow eyebrow that ends in a spray of plumes.¹² Its name comes from the way it hops up steep cliffs with both feet together.² There are three kinds. The southern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome) is the one travelers meet, in the Falkland Islands and off Patagonia. The eastern rockhopper of the Indian Ocean and New Zealand's subantarctic islands is a subspecies of it, E. c. filholi, in BirdLife's listing, but a species of its own, Eudyptes filholi, for New Zealand Birds Online. The northern rockhopper (Eudyptes moseleyi) of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island is a separate, Endangered species.³²⁹⁴ The macaroni is the crested penguin it is most often confused with, and the penguin species guide sets all of them side by side.

How many rockhopper penguins are there, and where do they live?

About 2.5 million mature southern rockhoppers in 2020, by BirdLife International's estimate for the IUCN Red List, and falling.³ Roughly 850,000 pairs breed on islands off South America and about 422,000 pairs of the eastern subspecies across the southern Indian Ocean and around New Zealand. The biggest sites, plus the two travelers can reach most easily:³

Falklands Conservation rounds the 2010 Falklands count to 320,000 pairs and calls it 36% of the world population; against BirdLife's totals above it is nearer a quarter. Either way it is the largest population anywhere, spread over 35 colonies, with 70% of the birds on just three: Steeple Jason, Beauchene Island and Grand Jason.²³ The northern rockhopper numbers about 206,850 pairs, about 90% of them on Tristan da Cunha's islands and Gough Island in the South Atlantic.⁴

Where can you see rockhopper penguins?

In the Falklands, on the outer islands that expedition ships and island lodges visit. The biggest colonies, on the Jason Islands, appear on some expedition itineraries, but most visitors see smaller colonies:⁵

Off the Argentine coast, Isla Pingüino, about 12 miles (20 km) from Puerto Deseado, has the rockhopper colony that the national park service calls the closest to the mainland and the only one on the continent tourists can visit; entry to the park is free, and you go with a boat excursion.¹⁷¹⁸ For the northern rockhopper, Oceanwide's Atlantic Odyssey plans a Zodiac cruise at Gough Island, where it says you might see them, and time at Tristan da Cunha, weather permitting.¹⁹

When is the best time to see rockhopper penguins?

December and January, when the chicks hatch and then gather in crèches. In the Falklands the calendar runs like this:²

At Isla Pingüino, Argentina's tourism site gives September to March, with chicks in December; the park's own wildlife calendar marks rockhoppers from December to March.¹⁸¹⁷

Which voyages give the best odds of seeing rockhopper penguins?

A voyage that spends two or three days in the western Falklands and names Saunders, West Point or Bleaker Island, between November and January. Each of these 2026-27 voyages names a rockhopper site; the fare shown is the lowest a reader could book when we checked:

Our pick for most travelers is a November voyage, when the adults are sitting on eggs and every colony is full: Oceanwide's Plancius departure is the cheapest, but its one open berth was for a man sharing a triple, so a couple should look at Atlas's November 12 sailing, at $15,444 each in a suite.²²⁰²³ For chicks, the Hondius departure plans Saunders Island on day 3, about January 18, as the crèches form, but only its last two suites were open, from $22,000.²¹²²² HX's March voyage costs least of the Falklands trips and adds four days on South Georgia, but it reaches Bleaker in mid-March, when the colonies have emptied after fledging and the adults are only starting to come back to moult.¹⁴² Skip the Atlantic Odyssey if a northern rockhopper is the goal: it reaches Gough about April 16, while BirdLife's calendar has the adults leaving for up to six months at sea once their moult, which starts between mid-January and late February, is over, and weather has cancelled 35% of its Tristan da Cunha landings since 1998.¹⁹⁴ For the islands themselves, see our Falkland Islands page.

How close can you get to rockhopper penguins? Can you touch them?

No touching, and no nearer than 20 ft (6 m): the Falkland Islands Government's Countryside Code says to stay outside the colony, never to feed, touch or handle wildlife, and never to block birds' routes between the sea and the colony.²⁴ The same code asks you to get the landowner's permission before entering private land, and to stay low and move slowly when taking photographs.²⁴ Bird flu reached the islands' rockhoppers: in 2024-25, five of 14 birds tested on Steeple Jason carried antibodies, a sign they had been exposed to the virus and survived.²⁵

Why is it called a rockhopper penguin?

Because it hops. Falklands Conservation says the name comes from its habit of bounding up steep cliffs with both feet together, and Argentina's park service notes the English name translates as "salta rocas", rock jumper.²¹⁷

What is the difference between a rockhopper penguin and a macaroni penguin?

The rockhopper is smaller, with a thin yellow eyebrow over a red eye; the macaroni's golden plumes join across its forehead.²²⁶ They are different species, though in the Falklands a few macaronis nest in rockhopper colonies and the two sometimes interbreed.²⁷ Our macaroni page has a side-by-side table.

What do rockhopper penguins eat, and how long do they live?

Mostly small crustaceans, such as krill, plus squid and fish.² They usually dive to 65 to 100 ft (20 to 30 m), with one recorded dive of 371 ft (113 m).¹ Sea lions are their main predator at sea, while skuas and striated caracaras take eggs and small chicks; they live 10 to 15 years and first breed at four.²

Are rockhopper penguins endangered?

The southern rockhopper is Vulnerable and the northern rockhopper Endangered on the IUCN Red List, both since 2008.³⁴ Both have suffered huge historic losses:

• The Falklands lost about 1.2 million pairs between 1932 and 2000, then a mass die-off from starvation in early 2016 cut breeding pairs by 31%, with little or no recovery by 2019, according to a study BirdLife cites.³ In 2024-25, pairs at monitored colonies were 15% below their long-term average and still falling on Steeple Jason, though breeding success appears to have stabilized.²⁵
• Campbell Island, New Zealand, once the eastern rockhopper's largest population, lost about 94% of its birds between 1942 and 1986, by BirdLife's figures; New Zealand Birds Online puts the fall at 95%, from 800,000 to 33,200 pairs, by 2012.³²⁹
• The northern rockhopper fell 57% in 30 years, and Gough Island lost an estimated 2 million pairs between 1955 and 2006.⁴

The likely driver is food: warming seas cut the supply, and starvation events now come too often for colonies to recover.³²⁵