Magellanic penguin
Spheniscus magellanicus (J. R. Forster, 1781)
The magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a bird in the penguin family Spheniscidae, order Sphenisciformes. It is a medium-sized penguin with an adult body mass of 4.105 kg, with reported values from 3.77 to 4.47 kg.
Quick facts about the magellanic penguin
This marine, aquatic bird is a carnivorous aquatic predator and is partially migratory, with a geographic range of 940,600 km². It lays a clutch of 2 eggs once per year, incubates them for 40 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 3.77 kg – 4.47 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 30 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 40 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.85 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 magellanic penguin
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Where does the magellanic penguin live?
Not recorded
What is the magellanic penguin?
The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen as far north as Espírito Santo. Vagrants have been found in El Salvador, the Avian Island in Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus banded penguins. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Humboldt penguin, and the Galápagos penguins. The Magellanic penguin was named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. The species is listed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN.
From the Wikipedia article “Magellanic penguin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magellanic_penguin&oldid=1382054598), 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 magellanic penguin endangered?
The magellanic 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 magellanic penguin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae
- genusSpheniscus
- SpeciesSpheniscus magellanicus (J. R. Forster, 1781)
Synonyms Aptenodytes magellanicus
Other names and names in other languages (37)
- MagellaanpikkewynAfrikaans
- بطريق ماجلانيArabic
- pingüín de magallanesAsturian
- Магеланов пингвинBulgarian
- pingüí de MagallanesCatalan
- tučňák magellanskýCzech
- pengwin MagellanWelsh
- MagellanpingvinDanish
- MagellanpinguinGerman
- Magellan-PinguinGerman
- magelana pingvenoEsperanto
- Pingüino patagónicoSpanish
- PatrancaSpanish
- Pingüino de MagallanesSpanish
- Pingüino magallánicoSpanish
- patagoonia pingviinEstonian
- patagonianpingviiniFinnish
- Manchot de MagellanFrench
- mageljanski pingvinCroatian
- Magellán-pingvinHungarian
- Pinguino di MagellanoItalian
- マゼランペンギンJapanese
- 마젤란펭귄Korean
- magelaninis pingvinasLithuanian
- MagelhaenpinguïnDutch
- pingwin magellańskiPolish
- pinguimPortuguese
- pinguim-de-magalhãesPortuguese
- pinguim-magalhânicoPortuguese
- Магелланов пингвинRussian
- tučniak dvojpásySlovak
- Magelanov pingvinSerbian
- เพนกวินมาเจลลันThai
- Macellan PengueniTurkish
- пінгвін магеланськийUkrainian
- 南美企鹅Chinese
- 麥哲倫環企鵝Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the magellanic penguin
Other species in the same genus Spheniscus.
African penguin
Spheniscus demersus
Humboldt penguin
Spheniscus humboldti
Galapagos penguin
Spheniscus mendiculus
CompareMagellanic penguin vs African penguinMagellanic penguin vs Humboldt penguinMagellanic penguin vs Galapagos penguinMagellanic penguin vs Spheniscus megaramphus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the magellanic penguin?
The magellanic penguin is a bird in the penguin family Spheniscidae, order Sphenisciformes, genus Spheniscus.
How heavy is a magellanic penguin?
An adult Magellanic penguin weighs 4.105 kg, with reported values from 3.77 to 4.47 kg.
What does the magellanic penguin eat?
The magellanic penguin is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the magellanic penguin endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a magellanic penguin live?
The magellanic penguin has a lifespan of 21.5 years, with values up to 30 years reported.
How many eggs does a magellanic penguin lay?
It lays 2 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 40 days.
When does a magellanic penguin reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 1,040 days, or 2.8 years.
Who named the magellanic penguin?
It was named Spheniscus magellanicus by (J. R. Forster, 1781).
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). Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/magellanic-penguin
“Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/magellanic-penguin.
@misc{magellanic_penguin_2026,
title = {Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/magellanic-penguin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}