Penguins of Antarctica! 7 Playful Types to Chill With

Move over “Happy Feet”!

Yes, Emperor penguins, you’re the royalty of Antarctica.

Statuesque, regal and topping out at a majestic four feet tall, you’ve definitely earned your crown as the largest penguins on Earth.

But, you see, we really want to talk about your smaller (and arguably cuter) cousins.

Like peppy little Adelies, dapper Chinstraps, shy Gentoos and those funky-haired Macaroni penguins – plus a few other quirky Antarctic characters. These are the penguins you’re most likely to meet if you visit Antarctica on an expedition cruise.

These other penguin types are the ones you’re most likely to meet if, like us, you visit Antarctica on an expedition cruise.

Oh, and don’t worry Emperors, we’ll circle back to you at the end of this post. But first, here’s our guide to the playful penguins of Antarctica you’re most likely to spot!

Surprise! Not all penguins call Antarctica home

Sure, most penguins stick to the Southern Hemisphere (no Arctic penguins here!). But depending on how you count, there are 17 or 18 different penguin species in total.

Some penguins live in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, over in South Africa, you find African penguins – and watching them swim at Boulders Bay is a popular Cape Town tourist attraction.

More penguins are found in Argentina, Australia and Chile.

Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic penguins

Take a peek at the map above of the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding sub-Antarctic islands – it helps show where these penguins actually live.

The Antarctic Peninsula itself juts out from mainland Antarctica.

To its north, you’ll find the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands and the Falklands – all part of the sub-Antarctic zone.

7 Types of penguins in Antarctica

1) Adelie penguins

Adelies are the really cute ones.

They’re named after Adelie, wife of the French explorer Jules Dumont D’Urville, who first discovered these penguins in 1840 on the Antarctic coast.

The smallest of the penguins in Antarctica, they’re only 18 to 24 inches tall, and they live on rockier parts of the Antarctic continent (unlike the Emperors, which live on ice).

We saw many Adelies on our cruise of the Antarctic Peninsula.

They’re fun to watch and put on quite a comical show – hopping around, marching one after the other along snow banks, and sledding and sliding down hills on their bellies.

Curious creatures, they’d climb over our outstretched legs as we sat on the snow to watch them.

And when we lay on our bellies to photograph them, they’d often come right up to us and peck at our camera lenses.

2) Chinstrap penguins

You can recognize Chinstrap penguins by the narrow band of black feathers which stretches from ear to ear, just below their chin.

They grow to about 28 to 30 inches tall.

Like Adelies, these Antarctic penguins build their nests by scraping the ground and lining it with pebbles – and they often steal pebbles from a neighbor’s nest.

But unlike other penguin species, where the stronger chick wins out when feeding, Chinstrap parents treat both chicks that hatch equally.

Did you know Antarctica is blue? Okay, not all of Antarctica, but a lot of Antarctica’s icebergs are blue!

3) Gentoo penguins

Sporting bright orange beaks and feet, Gentoos are the third largest species of penguins in Antarctica (after Emperor and King penguins) – standing 30 to 35 inches tall.

These penguins are the fastest underwater swimmers and can rocket through the water at speeds of 17 mph.

But Gentoos are more timid, retreating if other penguins act boldly toward them.

They’re also considered a threatened species, with only about 320,000 breeding pairs worldwide.

We visited Antarctica at the beginning of their summer season – late November – right during Gentoo penguin mating season.

And it was particularly fascinating to watch them mate! The males woo females by presenting them with small stones, which the females use to build their pebble nests – a true Antarctic love offering.

4) Macaroni penguins

You can’t miss a Macaroni penguin – just look for those wild spiky orange “eyebrows.” (Or are they more like eyelashes? Either way, they’re seriously stylish.)

In fact, their flashy feather crest is where they get their name. Back in the 18th century, trendy British men known as “macaronis” sported flamboyant feathered hats – and someone clearly thought these penguins shared their fashion sense!

Macaronis are about the same size as Chinstrap penguins (#2 above), but they gather in much bigger crowds. Colonies in the Falklands and other sub-Antarctic islands can number in the hundreds of thousands. There’s even one known colony tucked away on the Antarctic Peninsula.

In South Georgia, their breeding season kicks off in October. The females lay two eggs, but oddly, the first egg rarely survives, and the parents focus their care on the second egg, laid a few days later.

Thankfully, Macaronis are thriving – they’re the largest penguin population in the world.

5) Rockhopper penguins

Guess what Rockhopper penguins like to do?

Yes, that’s right. Hop from stone to stone.

Whereas the Adelies (#1) will slide down hills on their bellies, Rockhoppers prefer to hop about to get around the rocky shores where they live – the Falklands, the Australian Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), and other sub-Antarctic islands.

They’re also great divers, and can dive down more than 300 feet – and stay there for several minutes – while hunting for krill, squid and other yummy penguin food.

Like Macaroni penguins, they’re a crested penguin. Don’t you love their punk hair style? It goes with their red eyes, don’t you think?

They’re feisty little penguins too, and have a habit of getting into spats with each other.

And like many other penguins, when they mate, Rockhoppers mate for life. (Actually, 90% of birds are monogamous.)

6) King penguins

You can be forgiven for mistaking a King penguin for an Emperor. With their colorful yellow throats and patches of orange on their heads and beaks, King penguins look very similar to Emperor penguins.

Standing at 2½ to over 3 feet tall, Kings are the second largest penguins (after Emperor penguins).

Kings are serially monogamous. So they mate with only one other penguin for the season. But the next season – they’ve got their eyes on new loves! About 70% find a new mate each season.

Kings are also unique in that they don’t make a nest out of a pile of stones like other Antarctic penguin species.

Instead, the female lays one egg.

And then both parents share “incubation” duty. They trade off carrying the egg around on the tops of their feet, covered by a fold of loose skin called a “brood hatch” to keep the egg warm.

Each parent cares for the egg for 6 to 18 days before shuffling it to the other parent. And when they’re not on egg incubation duty, they swim off looking for food. This goes on for 55 days until the chick hatches.

The penguin chick is then carried around on their parents’ feet for another 30 to 40 days until they’re big enough to keep themselves warm.

King chicks look so different from adults that if you didn’t know it, you’d think they were a totally different bird.

Early explorers, in fact, thought they were a different type of Antarctic penguin because they look so different – brown and woolly.

7) Emperor penguins

We finish off our list of penguin species in Antarctica with more about Emperor penguins.

We didn’t see Emperor penguins on our Antarctic cruise (nor did we expect to).

These epic birds are elusive. They’re difficult to view in the wild.

You have to do a longer expedition journey in the Weddell Sea or Ross Sea, or choose an Antarctic voyage specifically focused on visiting the Emperor penguin colony at Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea (using helicopters from your ship to land on the island).

Emperor penguins are the only type of penguin that nests during the winter.

And like King penguins, they’re dedicated parents. But instead of sharing incubation duty, like the Kings, the dad does it all.

He incubates the egg laid by his partner after mating (the egg rests on his feet the whole time), while she goes off into the sea to fish and feed.

In the depths of the Antarctic winter, where temperatures drop to a bitter -40 C, he huddles for two months with other nearby males to keep warm – waiting for the egg to hatch. And during this time, he doesn’t eat at all!

Then when the egg hatches, the mom returns to look after chick, and the dad can finally go off and feed.

Emperor penguins live to be about 15 to 20 years old.

FAQs about the penguins of Antarctica

Do all penguins live in Antarctica?

Nope! While Antarctica is home to many penguin species, not all penguins live there. Some live in places like South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, and even the Galapagos Islands near the equator.

What’s the largest penguin species?

That crown goes to the Emperor penguin. These regal birds can reach up to 4 feet tall and weigh around 90 pounds.

What’s the smallest Antarctic penguin?

Among Antarctic species, the Adelie penguin is the smallest. But the tiniest penguin in the world? That’s the Little Blue penguin, found in Australia and New Zealand.

Do penguins mate for life?

Some do! Gentoo penguins often return to the same mate year after year. Many species are seasonally monogamous – sticking with one partner for the breeding season.

Why do penguins waddle?

It’s the most energy-efficient way for them to move on land, thanks to their short legs and rounded bodies.

Can you touch penguins in Antarctica?

No – visitors are required to keep a respectful distance (usually 15 feet or 5 meters). But the penguins don’t follow the rules… they sometimes waddle right up to you!

What do penguins eat?

Mostly fish, krill, and squid – seafood lovers, through and through.

Ready to waddle off into the world of penguins?

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