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Magellanic Penguins
 | Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus)
Magellanic penguins are one of four species of penguins which are distinguished from other penguins by the black and white bands round the head and either side of their stomachs. The other three are the African penguin, the Humboldt penguin and the Galapagos penguin. The Magellanic penguin, the largest of the four differs
From the Humboldt and African penguins by having two black bands under the chin. The Africans have only one and the Humboldt’s is incomplete. Like the African penguin they can also have black spots on their stomachs. The Magellanic penguin is also called the Jackass penguin (as is the African penguin), because of its donkey-like bray). They are called after the Magellan Straits which in turn are called after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who reported seeing them on his first voyage down to the tip of South America in 1519.
World population is about 2 million breeding pairs with about 100,000 breeding pairs in the Falklands. There are about 900.000 breeding pairs in Argentina and 800,000 in Chile. Colonies range from the Golfo San Matias in down to the more southerly islands of Tierra del Fuego. Further north they breed as far as Puerto Montt.
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Magellanic Penguins - Physical Characteristics
 | Physical Characteristics
They are about 60-70cm(27-28inches) in height weigh about 4-6kg (6-11lb). Their feet and beaks are black. Like other penguins its back is black and front is white, sometimes with black spots. Its distinguishing features are the two black bands under its chin. They are very shy birds and will run away from humans running into the sea, no doubt because they have been badly treated by humans in the past. They have a pink area above their eyes. The beak is brownish black with yellow markings.
Like other penguins they have to preen their feathers with oil from an oil gland at the base of their tail to keep waterproof.
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Magellanic Penguins - Breeding
 | Breeding
The Magellanic penguin breeds along the South East and South West coasts of South America, including Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Fernandez Islands, Staten islands and Cape Horn. They also breed on the Falkland Islands.
Magellanic penguins like to nest in burrows in sand or earth, particularly liking tussac grass habitat with deep earth for burrowing, but will nest under rocks or bushes or grassy vegetation. Their burrows, located near to the sea shore which they excavate themselves can be 4-6 ft long and the nest cavity can hold 2 adults. They usually sit with heads peeping out to protect eggs and chicks. Nests are usually less closely packed than other penguins perhaps because the burrows need more space than the circles of stones used as nests by some other penguins. However in Punto Tumbo in Argentina the nests are closely packed with over a million birds.
The magellanic penguin spends April to August at sea coming ashore to their same breeding sites and same partners from September to March. They excavate and repair their burrows from September then lay two eggs from mid October. The eggs are laid 4 days apart and are equal in size, weighing about 125 gm each and both parents take turns in incubating and feeding the chicks. The female incubates for the first shift while the male feeds at sea. He may forage as far away as 500 km then returns in 10-15 days to take over. The female then goes to sea. Incubation takes 39-43 days. Chicks are hatched blind and helpless with eyes opening in about a week. Chicks have grey down. After the chicks hatch parents feed them each day with one parent leaving in the morning to fish and returning later in the day with food. Parents usually forage within 30 km during chick feeding but may be forced to go further if there is competition from commercial fishing. Chicks are brooded for about 29 days after hatching. They do not form creches with other chicks but stay in or near their burrow till they are fully fledged. Chicks moult and become fully fledged at about 60-70 days old when they can go to sea to feed themselves. Parents can be away at sea 1-2 days or even a week when foraging for food for their chicks. Chicks are fed with food regurgitated from the adults’ stomachs.
The elder chick is given priority in feeding so the second chick is more likely to die. If nest fails the magellanics do not have a second brood.
Average fledging weight is 3.3kg in South America but only 2.7 kg in the Falklands due to shortage of food. Fledglings weighing less than 3 kg are unlikely to survive so that juvenile survival is low in the Falklands leading to a 80% decline since commercial fishing started. Those that do survive are underweight making them less likely to survive their first weeks at sea.
The penguins moult for 3-4 weeks in March after which they go to sea until the next breeding season. During this time they can forage as far as the Bahia region of Brazil. They can live to about 20 years of age. Females breed at about 4 years of age, the males at about 5.
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Magellanic Penguins - Diet
 | Diet
Magellanic penguins feed on squid (Loligo gahi), krill or small fish, in equal proportions. Where human commercial fishing competes for food, the penguins may starve to death or be under nourished. Species competed for commercially are blue whiting and loligo gahi squid. Where due to food shortage they have had to move to a different species of fish they are not so easily digested.
Magellanics forage 16km during incubation and 7km during chick rearing. The maximum distance they have been reported is 39km during chick rearing. Having to forage such long distances puts a burden on the birds.
Falklands
In the Falklands population declined by 84% in the 1980s and 1990s and the decline continues at about 76% due to malnutrition and starvation.
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Magellanic Penguins - Threats
 | Threats
Predators on land are the giant petrel, Great Skua, kara kara and kelp gull and in the sea are leopard seals, orcas, fur seals.
However the greatest causes of decline and the greatest threats are human related. These are loss of habitat, oil spills, deliberate discharge of oily ballast water from tanker, loss of food supply due to commercial over-fishing, being caught up in fishing nets and discarded fishing lines, egg taking and loss of suitable nesting burrows due to harvesting of guano.
Around 40,000 Magellanics are killed by oil pollution each year along the coasts of Argentina due to an active offshore oil and gas industry.
When in competition with commercial fishing, parents have to forage further and longer for food, chicks get less food, are in poorer health and are less likely to survive. Tourism if carefully controlled does not pose too much of a threat though if the birds get frightened and run away predators may take eggs and chicks and the parents have a raised metabolic rate and get stressed. It is important for colonies to be fenced off from visitors to reduce stress and prevent visitor feet from collapsing the burrows. If the penguins start to feel safe they will start to tolerate visitors and even approach them out of curiosity as do the rock-hoppers on the Falklands or the king penguins on South Georgia. Heavy rain can cause flooding of the burrows when the chicks can get wet and cold and may die as their down is not waterproof. They adults and chicks can also get penguin fleas.
In the Falklands population declined by 84% in the 1980s and 1990s and the decline continues at about 76% due to malnutrition and starvation.
Where we saw penguins in Patagonia they were timid and afraid of humans. No wonder when in the past they were taken from their breeding sites and killed and cut up to be used as crab bait by crab fishermen. Apparently this still goes on today in parts of South America.
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