Magellanic penguin
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The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus penguins. Its nearest relatives are the African Penguin, the Humboldt Penguin and the Galápagos Penguin.
Magellanic Penguins are medium-sized, black and white penguins, growing 70-76 cm tall. They have a black head with a broad white border running from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, to join on the throat. They have blackish-grey upperparts and whitish underparts, with two black bands between the head and the breast, the lower in an inverted horseshoe shape.
They feed on fish, squid, krill, and other crustaceans.
The main threat to this species is oil pollution which kills more than 20,000 adults and 22,000 juveniles every year off the coast of Argentina. This species of penguin was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan on one of his explorations.
See also
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Spheniscus magellanicus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
External links
- [Magellanic penguins from the International Penguin Conservation Web Site]
- [Penguin World: Magellanic penguin]
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