During breeding, the female does most of the foraging until the end of the guard stage. Macaroni penguins forage for food on an almost daily basis, particularly when they have chicks to feed. These stones may also help to grind food, especially the exoskeletons of crustaceans, which are a significant part of their diet. This is thought to aid in deep-sea diving, helping to weigh them down to get to deeper levels. Like several other penguin species, the macaroni penguin sometimes deliberately swallows small (10 to 30 mm in diameter) stones. They will usually catch between 4 to 16 krill or 40 to 50 amphipods per dive. The penguin’s dives are V-shaped, and no time is spent at the sea bottom. These penguins can venture as far as 303 kilometres (188 miles) from their colonies in search of food.ĭives are usually two minutes in duration and rarely exceed this. They catch most of their prey at depths of 15–70 metres (50–230 feet), but will dive as deep as 115 metres (375 feet) if needed! They usually dive deeper and for longer outside of the breeding season. The macaroni penguin’s diet is mostly comprised of krill, but they also eat other crustaceans, cephalopods and small fish. The life span of the macaroni penguin ranges from 8 to 15 years. They spend two weeks before this period accumulating fat, because they cannot enter water to forage for food without feathers and therefore do not eat while moulting. These birds moult once a year and replace all of their old feathers. Their impressive crest is not usually developed until they are three to four years of age, which is a year or two before they reach breeding age. Young and immature macaroni penguins are distinguished by their smaller size, smaller, duller-brown bill, dark grey chin and throat, and absent or underdeveloped head plumes, which are often just a scattering of yellow feathers. The erect-crested penguin is also similar it is almost as large, and also has a black face and long, robust orange bill, but has paired crests that do not meet on the forehead. The macaroni and royal penguins have very similar appearances, but the royal penguin has a white face instead of the usually black face of the macaroni. Females are smaller, ranging from 3.2 kg (7 lb) after moult to 5.7 kg (13 lb) before moult. Male macaroni penguins range in weight from 3.3 kg (7 lb) after incubating, or 3.7 kg (8 lb) after moult to 6.4 kg (14 lb) before moult. An adult macaroni penguin has an average length of around 70 cm (28 in), but their weight can vary depending on the time of the year and their sex. Macaroni penguins are large penguins that are similar in appearance to other crested penguins in the genus Eudyptes. DNA analysis indicates that the macaroni penguin split from the royal penguin approximately 1.5 million years ago. The macaroni penguin is often thought to be the same species at the royal penguin, but the two are in fact different. The specific scientific name chrysolophus is derived from the Greek words chryse “golden”, and lophos “crest”. This penguin belongs to the genus Eudyptes, with the name derived from Ancient Greek words eu “good”, and dyptes “diver”. One of eight species of crested penguin, the common name macaroni penguin comes from macaroni fashion, the name for the exaggerated style of dress that appeared in Europe during the late 18th century. The macaroni penguin was first described from the Falkland Islands in 1837 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt. That being said, their numbers have been declining since the mid-1970s and their conservation status is classified as Vulnerable. The macaroni penguin has some of the largest and densest breeding colonies of all penguin species, and with about 18 million individuals (9 million breeding pairs), the macaroni penguin is the most populated penguin species.
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