The Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) is a species of penguin closely related to the Royal Penguin.

It is a black and white penguin with yellow and black plumes on the top of its head. It generally lays two eggs, eating the first. Its vital statistics are around 4.5 kg and 45-55 cm tall. It eats squid, krill and other crustaceans. The egg hatches around 34 days after it is laid.

The Macaroni Penguin is the most numerous of all the world's penguins, with an estimated world population of over 9 million breeding pairs. It breeds in at least 216 colonies at 50 sites, including southern Chile, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands, Bouvet Island, Prince Edward Islands of South Africa, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and very locally on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Despite its large population, the Macaroni Penguin has been classified as Vulnerable by BirdLife International, as its population has been reduced by at least 30% over three generations. The main threats to its breeding grounds are those common to all Southern Ocean species, such as the existing and potential impact of commercial fishing, ocean warming and oil pollution.

The name Macaroni is said to be a reference to the Macaroni Club via the old song Yankee Doodle, because of the bird's conspicuous "feather in its cap".

References

• BirdLife International (2005). Eudyptes chrysolophus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable