Where Do Penguins Live? Not Just in Antarctica

Penguins of Antarctica

Only two species, the emperor penguin and the Adelie penguin, breed all the way around the coast of the Antarctic continent. Emperors are unique in breeding on sea ice in the middle of the polar winter, while Adelies nest on ice-free rocky ground in the summer.

Two more species, the chinstrap and the gentoo penguin, breed on the Antarctic Peninsula, the long arm of land that points toward South America, and on nearby islands. A small number of macaroni penguins also nest there. So even in Antarctica, only about five species breed, and the peninsula is the warmest and most crowded part of the continent for penguins.

Penguins of the sub-Antarctic islands

The richest penguin homes are the windswept islands of the Southern Ocean between Antarctica and the other continents. These include South Georgia, the Falkland Islands, the Crozet and Kerguelen islands, the Prince Edward Islands and Macquarie Island.

• King penguins breed in huge colonies on islands such as South Georgia, Crozet and Kerguelen.
• Macaroni and rockhopper penguins, crested species with yellow head plumes, breed on many of these islands, often among rocks and tussock grass.
• Royal penguins breed only on Macquarie Island, south of Australia.
• Gentoo penguins also breed on many sub-Antarctic islands, including the Falklands and South Georgia.

The northern rockhopper penguin lives farther north, on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in the South Atlantic and Amsterdam and St Paul islands in the Indian Ocean.

Penguins of South America and Africa

Four “banded” penguins, named for the black stripes across their chests, live on warmer coasts. They nest in burrows, under bushes or in rock crevices rather than on ice.

The Galapagos penguin is the most northerly penguin. It breeds mainly on the western islands of Isabela and Fernandina, and some birds live slightly north of the equator. It can survive in the tropics because the cold Humboldt Current and upwelling of deep, cold water bring cool temperatures and plenty of fish. The Humboldt and African penguins also rely on cold currents, the Humboldt and Benguela currents.

Penguins of Australia and New Zealand

New Zealand and its outlying islands are home to more penguin species than any other country.

• Little penguin: the smallest penguin, about 30–33 cm (12–13 in) tall, breeding along the southern coasts of Australia and around New Zealand. Some colonies are close to cities, such as the one at St Kilda pier in Melbourne.
• Yellow-eyed penguin: one of the rarest penguins, found on the southeast coast of New Zealand’s South Island and on sub-Antarctic islands to the south.
• Fiordland penguin: nests in dense temperate rainforest in southwestern New Zealand.
• Snares and erect-crested penguins: crested penguins that breed only on small, remote island groups south and east of New Zealand.

What kinds of habitat do penguins use?

All penguins depend on the sea for food, and they spend most of their lives in the water. On land, they need safe places to breed, rest and molt. These range from flat sea ice (emperors) and bare rocky beaches (Adelies, chinstraps) to grassy slopes (kings and macaronis), forest floors (Fiordland penguins), sand and guano burrows (African and Magellanic penguins) and cracks in lava rock (Galapagos penguins).

The common factor is cold, productive water. Penguins live where ocean currents and upwelling bring nutrients to the surface, feeding the krill, fish and squid they eat. Larger species tend to live in colder places, since a bigger body loses heat more slowly, while the smallest penguins live in temperate waters.

Why are there no penguins in the Arctic?

Penguins evolved in the Southern Hemisphere, with the oldest known fossils, about 60 million years old, found in New Zealand. To reach the Arctic, they would have had to cross the warm tropical oceans, which have little food for a diving seabird. Only the Galapagos penguin has made it to the equator, thanks to the cold currents there.

The Arctic also has land predators such as polar bears and Arctic foxes, which would make life very risky for a flightless bird nesting on the ground. Antarctica and its islands have no such land predators. In the north, the penguin’s role is filled by auks, including puffins, murres and razorbills, which look and swim like penguins but can fly. The flightless great auk of the North Atlantic, hunted to extinction in the 1840s, was the bird originally called “penguin”; sailors later gave the name to the southern birds because they looked similar.

For a full list of species, see how many penguin species there are.