10 Places Where Penguins Live in the Wild

Antarctica

Antarctica is a land of superlatives. It's the southernmost continent, largely uninhabited, and almost entirely covered in ice. It's also the highest, driest, coldest continent, and the one with the largest penguin population, with more than five million breeding pairs. However, only two species, the emperor and Adélie penguins, make Antarctica their year-round home. Chinstrap, macaroni, and gentoo penguins, meanwhile, will spend time on the Antarctic peninsula, but breed on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands to the north.

Though winters in Antarctica are bitterly cold, emperor penguins breed and lay eggs on the sea ice as winter sets in. Male penguins are tasked with incubating the eggs in these harsh conditions, forgoing food for up to four months as they raise their young.

Australia

Though Antarctica is now considered the homeland of penguins, research published in 2020 suggests that ancient penguin ancestors actually originated in Australia and New Zealand. In modern times, only the smallest of the penguin species, the little penguin (also called the fairy penguin), still makes Australia its home. While Australia is generally known for its hot and arid climate, the southern coast has cool waters and a temperate climate that allows little penguins to thrive. They live along the coast of the mainland, but the largest populations are on outlying islands like Phillips Island, which hosts a colony of roughly 32,000.

Argentina

Argentina is a country in South America that occupies much of the southern portion of the continent. Here, expansive coastlines and chilly south Pacific waters support large populations of Magellanic penguins, a mid-sized species with white stripes on their heads and across their chests. A reserve on the Atlantic coast in Chubut province called Punta Tombo is home to more than 200,000 breeding pairs. Though the overall population is thought to be declining, a new colony was discovered on a remote Argentine island in 2020.

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are a remote archipelago in the south Atlantic Ocean, about 300 miles east of Patagonia in South America. While this chain of rugged islands with sandy beaches and cliff-lined coasts is home to only 3,500 people, it is a true capital on the penguin world. Five species—Magellanic, rockhopper, gentoo, king, and macaroni penguins—nest on the islands, with a total population of nearly one million. The islands support the largest gentoo penguin population in the world (the term "gentoo" has an odd origin story—first used by 16th century Portuguese traders to refer to indigenous inhabitants of India, and perhaps adopted as a common name for the penguins due to head markings that resemble a turban).

The birds nest up to three miles from the coast, and form “penguin highways” as they travel back and forth from the ocean to feed. While penguin populations worldwide are declining, the gentoo penguin population on the Falkland islands has increased substantially over the last 25 years.

Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are a chain of volcanic islands off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. A single species of penguin, the Galapagos penguin, lives here. The islands straddle the equatorial line, making these penguins the only species to live in the Northern Hemisphere. This small penguin, which reaches only 20 inches tall, is able to crawl into caves and crevices along the rocky coastline to avoid the tropical heat on land. Running from Antarctica up the western coast of South America, the Humboldt Current brings cool water and schools of fish that can sustain the penguins despite the northern latitude. With approximately 600 breeding pairs remaining in the wild, the Galapagos penguin is considered an endangered species.

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is a small island chain of extinct volcanoes in the south Atlantic Ocean. More than 1,000 miles separate the archipelago from South America and Africa, its closest continental neighbors, making it the most remote island chain in the world. Though the islands are small, they are important nesting sites for northern rockhopper penguins. Inaccessible Island alone, which is only five square miles in size, is home to a population of 27,000 penguins.

These numbers mark a precipitous decline since the 1950s, when some south Atlantic islands hosted populations of more than a million birds. The species is now endangered, and researchers believe the declining numbers are largely due to rising ocean temperatures and a reduction in prey.

New Zealand

Despite its reputation as a tropical destination, New Zealand is home to four species of penguins which thrive in the cold currents of the Southern Ocean—little, snares, yellow-eyed, and Fiordland crested penguins. Penguins can be found along much of the coastline on New Zealand’s South Island, as well as on smaller, outlying islands further south. The endangered yellow-eyed penguin is the largest of the penguins found in New Zealand, and also the rarest, with an estimated population of 4,000. Only the Galapagos penguin has a lower population. 

South Africa

South Africa has only recently become a habitat for penguins. For most of its history, the African penguin has been confined to living on various islands along the coastline of southern Africa, from Angola to Mozambique.  However, in 1980, two colonies were established on mainland beaches near Cape Town. Researchers have determined that these mainland colonies can now thrive because increasing human populations have driven back predators that would otherwise decimate a penguin colony. Across its entire range, however, the African penguin's population has declined rapidly since the 1920s, and the species is now considered endangered.

Bounty and Antipodes Islands

The Bounty and Antipodes Islands are two remote island chains deep in the south Pacific Ocean. Both chains lie more than 400 miles southeast of New Zealand. These uninhabited spits of land are steep, rocky, and the sole breeding grounds of erect-crested penguins. These penguins are among the least-researched, and little is known about their migration patterns. They have been observed to arrive on the islands in September and remain there to breed and raise their young until February. Afterwards, they will return to the sea, and not be seen on land again until the following September.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a steep, mountainous island chain in the south Atlantic Ocean with no permanent inhabitants. In the early 20th century, there were outposts on the islands used by whalers, which have since disappeared. In modern times, they are best known as the breeding grounds for large colonies of penguins, including macaroni, king, and chinstrap penguins. 

One of six species of crested penguins, the macaroni penguin earned its name thanks to the extended, yellow feathers above its eyes that look reminiscent of macaroni noodles. They gather in large, dense breeding colonies in excess of 100,000 birds. In total, there are more than one million breeding pairs of macaroni penguins on the islands.