King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) | Photos, Calls and ID

LCLeast ConcernFish

MarineScrapeHuge · 11.7 kg

What the King Penguin sounds like

Sonogram of the King Penguin: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by steve · Begging call, call, song · Stromness, Antarctica · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The king penguin stands at 70 to 100 cm (28 to 39 in) tall and weighs from 9.3 to 18 kg (21 to 40 lb). Although female and male king penguins look alike, they can be separated by their calls. Males are also slightly larger than females. The mean body mass of adults from Marion Island was 12.4 kg (27 lb) for 70 males and 11.1 kg (24 lb) for 71 females. Another study from Marion Island found that the mean mass of 33 adults feeding chicks was 13.1 kg (29 lb). The king penguin is approximately 25% shorter and weighs around a third less than the emperor penguin.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the King Penguin

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 3 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.

Where to see the King Penguin

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 5 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Australia South Africa Falkland Islands Argentina Chile

Recorded as a rare visitor in New Zealand, United Kingdom.

About the King Penguin

The king penguin is the second largest species of penguin, smaller than but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Emperor PenguinAptenodytes forsteriAdult emperor penguins are 110–120 cm (43–47 in) in length, averaging 115 cm (45 in).

Side by side: King Penguin vs Little Penguin

Learn the King Penguin in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.