• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Recent phylogenetic analyses have shown that the species shows little genetic divergence from Royal Penguin populations (Frugone et al. 2018; 2019), suggesting that a reappraisal of the taxonomic status is needed.

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.
Turbott, E.G. 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2bce+3bce+4bce

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2018	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2016	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2013	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2012	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2010	Vulnerable	A2b,c; A3b,c; A4b,c
2008	Vulnerable	A2b,c; A3b,c; A4b,c
2005	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	18,700,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	27,700,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	7,400 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	medium	estimated	1998
Population trend	decreasing	medium	estimated	2005-2042
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	12.3 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated at 6.3 million breeding pairs in at least 258 colonies at c.55 breeding sites (Crossin et al. 2013), with key populations on Isles Crozet (2,200,000 pairs, including 1 million on Ilots des Pingouins), Kerguelen (1.8 million pairs), Heard Island (1 million pairs), South Georgia (1 million pairs) and Marion Island (290,000 pairs).

Trend justification: The current global population estimate of 6.3 million breeding pairs (Crossin et al. 2013) represents a 47% reduction over three generations (37 years) on the previous estimate of 9 million pairs (Woehler 1993, Ellis et al. 1998). At South Georgia, c.5 million pairs were estimated in the 1980s, falling to c.2.7 million pairs in the mid 1990s and to <1 million pairs in 2002 (Trathan et al. 1998, 2012; Crossin et al. 2013). Volcanic activity eliminated a colony of c.1 million pairs on McDonald Island, though satellite images show unidentified penguins that may be recolonising Macaronis (Crossin et al. 2013); photographic images from tourist vessels suggest that the penguins are indeed Macaroni Penguins (E.J. Woehler in litt. 2019). Surveys on Heard Island (c.1 million pairs) suggest a decrease owing to losses in some smaller colonies. The population at Marion has decreased by over 30% from 434,000 pairs in 1994-1995 to 290,000 pairs in 2008-2009 (Crawford et al. 2009), and 267,000 pairs in 2012-2013 (Dyer and Crawford 2015). Recent trends at Crozet are unknown, as there has been no assessment since Jouventin (1988). At Kerguelen populations increased by c.1.06% per annum between 1962 and 2014, and have been stable since (CNRS-CEBC unpublished data). Populations in South America may be stable but data are few (Oehler et al. 2008). A rapid ongoing decline is estimated overall.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Antarctica	extant	native		yes
Argentina	extant	native			yes
Australia	extant	vagrant
Bouvet Island (to Norway)	extant	native		yes
Brazil	extant	vagrant
Chile	extant	native		yes
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	extant	native		yes
French Southern Territories	extant	native		yes
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	extant	native		yes
High Seas	extant	native			yes
New Zealand	extant	vagrant
South Africa	extant	native		yes
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	extant	native		yes
St Helena (to UK)	extant	vagrant

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Antarctica	Craggy Point, Clarence Island
Antarctica	Gibbs Island
Chile	Isla Noir
Chile	Islas Diego Ramírez y Rocas Norte
Chile	Islote Leonard
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	Jason Islands Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	Pebble Island Group
French Southern Territories	Île aux Cochons
French Southern Territories	Île de l'Est
French Southern Territories	Île de la Possession
French Southern Territories	Île des Pingouins
French Southern Territories	Îles des Apôtres
French Southern Territories	Northern part of Péninsule Loranchet
French Southern Territories	Péninsule Courbet
French Southern Territories	Péninsule Rallier du Baty
French Southern Territories	Southern coast of Péninsule Jeanne d'Arc
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	Heard and McDonald Islands
High Seas	South Georgia Marine Protected Area Border North
South Africa	Prince Edward Islands Special Nature Reserve
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia - mainland, islands, islets and stacks
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia Inner Marine
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia Outer Marine
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Sandwich Islands Marine North

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Viral/prion-induced diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/macaroni-penguin-eudyptes-chrysolophus on 24/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/12/2024.