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Macaroni Penguins
 | Picture:Macaroni Penguins on the Welcome Islets, South Georgia. 28 Dec 1989. The Welcome Islets were discovered by Capt James Cook in 1775.
Macaroni Penguins (Eudytes chrysolophus)
At present there are thought to be 7 species of crested penguins of which 4 breed on the New Zealand sub-antarctic islands. Macaronis are small crested penguins that live in sub-antarctic zones and breed on sub-antarctic islands.
Macaroni penguins are called after young London dandies who considered themselves the top of fashionable society and formed themselves into the Macaroni Club whose members sported feathers as their badge. More about them below.
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The Original Macaroni
 | Picture:An Upper Clapton (Hackney)Macaroni. 1792. Picture held in Sutton House London.
The Original Macaronis
Macaroni penguins were named after young 18th century dandies who considered themselves the leaders of fashion and taste in London society. They were young men who had done their grand tour travelling through Europe to Italy and copied the tastes and styles of continental society. They set up their own club in London called the Macaroni Club and wore hats with feathers stuck in them. At the time a popular image of Italians was of them wearing hats sporting feathers. In 1764, Horace Walpole described the club members as travelled young men wearing long curls and spy glasses. The word became synonymous with the young men and anyone affectedly stylish. Dr Samuel Johnson’s biographer and fan Boswell wrote in 1773 about a person he described as a delicate Londoner, a macaroni who couldn’t ride. The picture is of an Upper Clapton macaroni, a fashionable Hackney gentleman of the 1790s. It is on display at Sutton House in Hackney, a magnificent tudor house in east London saved from extinction by local enthusiasts and now in the care of the National Trust. This house is a rare survivor with stunning linen-fold panelling and many other interesting features. According to Mike Gray, President of the Sutton House Society there was a series of such illustrations depicting macaronis from different areas in London. The Hackney macaroni in the picture wears breeches with legs of different patterns, carries a stick, sword and silk handkerchief and has his hair (or would it be a wig?) done in a long ringlet. In his case the feathers are sticking out of his pocket. The picture is dated 1792. Everyone has heard of the song Yankee Doodle Dandy, which was written by and English surgeon to poke fun at the continental army during the revolutionary war. It implies that Yankee Doodle was such a hick that he considered himself a dandy if he stuck a feather in his hat and called himself a macaroni. The word macaroni itself is derived from the Greek makaria, food from barley (c. 200-600 AD). Whoever named the penguins had a wicked sense of humour! |
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A Sub-Antarctic Colony
 | Picture:Macaroni penguins on the Welcome Islets, South Georgia. 28 Dec 1989.
Macaronies lay 2 eggs of different sizes, one half the size of the second, and the smaller first one doesn’t hatch. The first egg is often broken or taken by predators before the second one is laid.
They are seen on Kerguelen Island, Heard Island, South Georgia, South Shetlands, South Sandwich Islands and the Falklands.
They are very like their smaller cousins the rock-hoppers, so much so that when a macaroni was pointed out to us in the middle of a rock hopper colony in the Falklands, I really could not tell the difference.
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A Rough Coastline
 | Picture: Macaronis on the Welcome Islets, South Georgia. 28 Dec 1989.
The plumage is mainly black and white with long gingery-white plumes that grow in a crescent from the head. Their bills are deeply sculpted and rather bulky in appearance. They weigh about 8.8lb (4kg) and are about 28inches (71cm) tall. They are quite aggressive birds with a loud bray and fights are common in the colonies. Macaronies besides being a bit bigger than rockhoppers have slightly more gingery feathers and beak. Their head feathers are a bit longer and stick up less than the rockhoppers. They are seen on steep slopes, exposed headlands and the weather side of islands. |
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Agile Climbers
 | Picture: Macaroni Penguins on the Welcome Islets, South Georgia. 28 Dec 1989.
They can cope easily with heavy seas and can climb up steep and slippery cliffs with great agility. They hop more than other penguins, jumping from rock to rock and can climb 200m (656ft) in less than 20 mins. They may climb 2 or 3 times a day in breeding season bringing food for their chicks and relieving their mate in brooding duties. |
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Porpoising Macaronis
 | Picture:Macaroni Penguins porpoising off the Welcome Islets. South Georgia. 28 Dec 1989.
Macaronies like other penguins often porpoise in the sea jumping out of the surface as they swim to allow them to breathe and go down again. They can swim at 24km/hr (15mph) occasionally reaching speeds of 48km/hr (30mph).
They swim up to 115km in their search for food, mainly krill and small fish and fish further from shore than gentoo penguins which often nest in the same regions.
After the chicks have fledged it is the adults turn to stay on shore till they moult and have a new set of waterproof feathers.
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