The macaroni penguin is a funny little species of penguin – one of six species of crested penguins, which all bear a distinctive decorative-looking crown above their eyes. On some species, these look like angry eyebrows or a feathery hat, on the macaroni penguin it kind of looks like.. well, macaronis?! These penguins are about 28 inches in average length (70 cm) and grow up to around 12 pounds on average (5.5 kg). Interestingly, the bright yellow crest on the face of the penguin is not exclusive to one sex or the other, and in fact males and females are very similar in appearance aside from small variations in body size and bill size.

Truly adept swimmers, the macaroni penguin is a prodigious hunter of small fish, krill, crabs, shrimp and other crustaceans. The conservation status of this penguin is one of the most curious facts to note – while being the most populous penguin species on earth (surprised?) with upwards of 18 million individuals, their conservation status from the IUCN is “vulnerable” as widespread declines in macaroni penguin populations have been observed since the 1970s.

Island birds, these penguins live in the frigid waters between the southern tip of Chile and the northern archipelago of Antarctica. They inhabit a range of cold islands in the region including the Falklands, South Georgia, South Sandwich, South Orkney, Prince Edward, Marion, Corzet, Kerguelen, South Shetland, Bouvet, Heard, and McDonald islands.

Another interesting fact about this marine bird is that in the busy breeding grounds where thousands of penguins are all trumpeting away trying to call to chicks and mates, these penguins distinguish one another from unique differences in their vocalizations. Apparently there are acoustic qualities unique to each bird which allows them to tell each other’s “voices” apart enough to pick out a family member’s call over the din of a thousand squawking penguins.