In the past two posts, I did pose a quiz question: which is the most numerous penguin on South Georgia? After a visit to South Georgia, most guests would guess the King Penguin, as that is the one we see most. However, there are twice as many Macaroni Penguins as there are Kings on South Georgia.
The reason for this wrong perception is that most Macaroni Penguin colonies are on the side of the island that we don’t visit. And the few that we pass are extremely difficult to reach. In contrast to Kings, Macaroni’s breed higher up on the mountains, often after quite a steep climb and they breed in between the tussock. All this makes it a lot harder to find Macaronies, despite the nearly a million breeding pairs on the island.
Oh and by the way: Happy Penguin Awareness Day!
