We usually picture penguins as enjoying perpetual winters, preferring snow and colder climates. Movies depict them as arctic dwellers, laying eggs in the snow and going on whirlwind adventures that involve elephant seals and orca whales. However, the actual distribution of the different species of penguins is a little more varied. While almost all species of penguins are habituated in the Southern Hemisphere, many species prefer temperate climates, such as those in the Galapagos Islands and South Africa. In fact, penguins of a large variety of shapes and sizes have been around for millions of years. Here are 20 fascinating living and extinct penguin species.
1. King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
(By MMessina1245, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Liam Quinn, Wikimedia Commons)
King penguins are the second-largest species of penguins and are under the same genus as Emperor penguins. They are spread across the South Indian and South Atlantic Ocean, namely on Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Island, Prince Edward Islands, Heard Island, McDonald Islands, and Macquarie Island.
2. Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)
(By Ian Duffy, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Christopher Michel, Wikimedia Commons)
Emperor penguins are the heaviest and largest living species of penguins. They are evenly distributed across all ends of the coast of the Antarctic continent.
3. Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Jerzy Strzelecki, Wikimedia Commons)
These are also the most widely spread penguins, along with Emperor penguins, and are found all across the Antarctic Coast.
4. Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis Antarctica)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
(By US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Lewnwdc77, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin is found all across the various shores and islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean.
5. Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis Papua)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Ben Tubby, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Liam Quinn, Wikimedia Commons)
Gentoo penguins breed and reside in several places across the Antarctic Ocean such as Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, and the Kerguelen Islands. Smaller colonies can be found on Macquarie Island, South Shetland Islands, Heard Islands, and across the Antarctic Peninsula.
6. Little Penguin
(By JJ Harrison, Wikimedia Commons)
(By JJ Harrison, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Fir0002, Wikimedia Commons)
This little guy is also known as the Fairy Penguin or fairy blue penguin. They are found along the coasts of New Zealand and Australia, with some that can be found in Chile.
7. White-flippered penguin (Eudyptula minor albosignata)
(By Auckland Museum, Wikimedia Commons)
(By R. Roscoe, Wikimedia Commons)
This bird gets its names from the white streaks on its flippers. It is found only in two places, the Banks Peninsula and Motunau Island, which are near Christchurch, New Zealand.
8. Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)
(By Sanjay Acharya, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Martin St-Amant, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Liam Quinn, Wikimedia Commons)
Named after the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, these penguins are indigenous to South America, more specifically the coastal areas of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.
9. Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
(By Adam Kumiszcza, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Drcwp1, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Ronincmc, Wikimedia Commons)
Here’s another South American penguin, named after another explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. While they are native to the coastal Chile and Peri, the majority of this species populations reside in Pinguino de Humboldt National Reserve.
10. Galápagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)
(By Charles J Sharp, Wikimedia Commons)
(By putneymark, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Aquaimages, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin is the only penguin that lives in the Northern Hemisphere and is native solely to the Galapagos Islands.
11. African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
(By Bl1zz4rd, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Olga Ernst, Wikimedia Commons)
(By D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons)
Also known as the Cape penguin, it is endemic to the coasts of South Africa. It also goes by the names black-footed penguin and jackass penguin locally.
12. Yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes)
(By Christian Mehlführer, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Steve, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Zoharby, Wikimedia Commons)
These topaz-eyed beauties are native to New Zealand and are also known as hoiho or tarakaka.
13. Fiordland penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)
(By Francesco Veronesi, Wikimedia Commons)
(By travelwayoflife, Wikimedia Commons)
As the name of the penguin would suggest, this species is found most predominantly in New Zealand, in and beyond Fiordland, and ranging across Stewart Island/ Rakiura and South Island. It also goes by the names tawaki or pokotiwha locally.
14. Snares penguin (Eudyptes robustus)
(By Thomas Mattern, Wikimedia Commons)
(By lin padgham, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Brocken Inaglory, Wikimedia Commons)
This is another species indigenous to New Zealand, which also goes by the names Snares Islands penguin and Snares crested penguin. They are specifically found in a group of islands south of South Island, called the Snares.
15. Erect-crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri)
(By J. G. Keulemans, Wikimedia Commons)
The Erect-Crusted Penguin is an endangered species of New Zealand penguin that used to inhabit Campbell Island but is currently most commonly found in the Antipodes Islands and the Bounty Islands.
16. Southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome),
(By © Samuel Blanc, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Ben Tubby, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Liam Quinn, Wikimedia Commons)
This funky fowl is found on the coasts of the Southern-most parts of South America, and the subantarctic parts of the Pacific Ocean.
17. Eastern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi)
(By Hullwarren, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin is considered a subspecies of the Southern Rockhopper Penguin, despite having certain genetic differences. It is found on numerous sub-antarctic islands across the Indo-Pacific Ocean, which include Prince Edward Island, Crozet Island, Kerguelen Island, Heard Island, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island, Auckland, and the Antipodes Islands.
18. Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi)
(By Arjan Haverkamp, Wikimedia Commons)
This rock-hopping penguin is found solely on two islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, namely Tristan da Cunha island and Gough Island. The population of this species declined by nearly 90% in the last 6 decades, now leaving the species listed as endangered.
19. Royal Penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli)
(By M. Murphy, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Brocken Inaglory, Wikimedia Commons)
These penguins are found mostly on Macquarie Island and scattered across the surrounding sub-Antarctic islands, and are classified as near threatened, meaning they are approaching being an endangered species.
20. Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus)
(By Jerzy Strzelecki, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
(By Andrew Shiva, Wikimedia Commons)
These penguins are found everywhere across the Antarctic peninsula and the Subantarctic coast. They have been declared a vulnerable species due to significant declines in their population since the 1970s.
EXTINCT SPECIES
21. Chatham Penguin (Eudyptes chathamensis)
(By Sean Murtha, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin once resided on a set of islands east of New Zealand named Chatham Islands but became extinct shortly after the islands became inhabited, approximately 500 years ago.
22. Waimanu (Waimanu manneringi)
(By Nobu Tamura, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin lived in New Zealand during the Paleocene era, approximately 55 million years ago.
23. Kumimanu (Kumimanu biceae)
(By Nobu Tamura, Wikimedia Commons)
Another extinct flightless bird from New Zealand that lived approximately 66 million years ago and whose name in Maori means “monster bird”. It is one of the largest and oldest birds to have lived and is nearly the size of a fully-grown person.
24. Anthropornis
(By Discott, Wikimedia Commons)
This penguin lived during the Late Eocene era in New Zealand and Antarctica, approximately 40 million years ago, and grew to nearly 6 feet in height on average.
25. Icadyptes
(By Nobu Tamura, Wikimedia Commons)
The Icadyptes also lived during the Late Eocene era, in South America and were known to grow up to 5 feet in height.
26. Inkayacu
(By Apokryltaros, Wikimedia Commons)
Another Late Eocene era penguin from Peru, but unlike the Icadyptes depicted swimming above the Inkayacu penguin in the above picture, was gray and reddish-brown in color as opposed to the usual black and white.
27. Kairuku
(By Tim Bertelink, Wikimedia Commons)
This extinct penguin was yet another bird from New Zealand, that lived approximately 27 million years ago and was as large as the average man.
