Adult © Eric VanderWerf eBird S44010471 Macaulay Library ML 91607011
Adult © Ryne Rutherford
Adult and juvenile © Eric VanderWerf
Adult © Eric VanderWerf
Adult and juvenile © Matt Brady

African Penguin Spheniscus demersus

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Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

The only penguin regularly found within its range. A pudgy, flightless, black-and-white seabird with wings modified into flippers. Uncommon and declining, but still easily seen at well-known breeding colonies. It is extremely ungainly on land but is a supreme swimmer in the open ocean, where individuals dive down as far as 60 m in pursuit of small schooling fish. Juveniles are covered in flufflike down, and immatures have a white throat and frequently look scruffy as they molt. Call is a repeated, donkey-like braying: “haaaaaaahh, haaaaaaahh”.

POWERED BY MERLIN