Gentoo penguin
Pygoscelis papua (J. R. Forster, 1781)
The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) is a bird in the penguin family Spheniscidae, order Sphenisciformes. It is a medium-sized, marine, aquatic predator with a representative adult body mass of 5.9 kg and reported values from 5.3 to 6.1 kg.
Quick facts about the gentoo penguin
It lays 2 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, incubates them for 37 days and reaches sexual maturity at 2.2 years. The species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category, and it is partially migratory.
- Weight
- 5.29 kg – 6.13 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 35 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 37 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 years – 2.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the gentoo penguin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the gentoo penguin live?
Not recorded
What is the gentoo penguin?
The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) is a penguin species (and possibly species complex) in the genus Pygoscelis, most closely related to the Adélie penguin (P. adeliae) and the chinstrap penguin (P. antarcticus). The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud, trumpeting call, emitted with the head thrown back.
From the Wikipedia article “Gentoo penguin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gentoo_penguin&oldid=1384636346), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the gentoo penguin endangered?
The gentoo penguin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the gentoo penguin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae
- genusPygoscelis
- SpeciesPygoscelis papua (J. R. Forster, 1781)
Synonyms Aptenodytes papua, Pygosceles wagleri, Pygoscelis wagleri
Other names and names in other languages (43)
- GentoopikkewynAfrikaans
- WitoorpikkewynAfrikaans
- بطريق جنتوArabic
- Субантарктически пингвинBulgarian
- pingüí de corona blancaCatalan
- tučňák oslíCzech
- pengwin jentwWelsh
- ÆselpingvinDanish
- BrillepingvinDanish
- EselspinguinGerman
- RotschnabelpinguinGerman
- papua pingvenoEsperanto
- Pingüino gentúSpanish
- Pingüino de pico rojoSpanish
- Pingüino de vinchaSpanish
- Pingüino juanitoSpanish
- Pingüino papúaSpanish
- eeselpingviinEstonian
- valkokulmapingviiniFinnish
- Manchot papouFrench
- žutonogi pingvinCroatian
- szamárpingvinHungarian
- Pinguino papuaItalian
- Pigoscelide comuneItalian
- ジェンツーペンギンJapanese
- 젠투펭귄Korean
- papuasinis pingvinasLithuanian
- ezelspinguïnDutch
- bøylepingvinNorwegian
- pingwin białobrewyPolish
- pinguim-gentooPortuguese
- pinguim-de-sobrancelha-brancaPortuguese
- Ослиный пингвинRussian
- Папуанский пингвинRussian
- Субантарктический пингвинRussian
- tučniak bieloškvrnovýSlovak
- Gentu pingvinSerbian
- åsnepingvinSwedish
- เพนกวินเจ็นตูThai
- Gento PengueniTurkish
- пінгвін-шкіперUkrainian
- 白眉企鹅Chinese
- 巴布亞企鵝Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the gentoo penguin
Other species in the same genus Pygoscelis.
Adélie penguin
Pygoscelis adeliae
Chinstrap penguin
Pygoscelis antarcticus
CompareGentoo penguin vs Adélie penguinGentoo penguin vs Chinstrap penguinGentoo penguin vs Pygoscelis tyreeiGentoo penguin vs Pygoscelis calderensis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is a gentoo penguin?
The gentoo penguin has a representative adult body mass of 5.9 kg, with reported values from 5.3 to 6.1 kg.
What does the gentoo penguin eat?
It is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the gentoo penguin endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a gentoo penguin live?
Its lifespan is given as 13 years, with values up to 35 years reported by sources.
How many eggs does a gentoo penguin lay?
It lays 2 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 37 days.
What kind of animal is the gentoo penguin?
It is a bird, a penguin in the family Spheniscidae and order Sphenisciformes.
When does a gentoo penguin reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 2.2 years, with reported values from 2.0 to 2.5 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gentoo-penguin
“Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gentoo-penguin.
@misc{gentoo_penguin_2026,
title = {Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gentoo-penguin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}