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Chinstrap penguin

Amazing fact

Chinstrap penguins have a waterproof coat of short, densely packed feathers.

University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
Chinstrap penguin in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

Chinstrap penguins have a waterproof coat of short, densely packed feathers.

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THE REAL WORLD

The real Chinstrap penguin

Scientific name
Pygoscelis antarcticus
Japanese name
ヒゲペンギン
Group
Birds
Class
Aves
Order
Sphenisciformes
Family
Spheniscidae
Genus
Pygoscelis
Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Chinstrap penguin” comes from

Its high-pitched call has also earned it the English name “Stone cracker Penguin”.

University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
01

A penguin that lives around the Antarctic Peninsula and on islands off the coast of Antarctica.

02

A thin black line runs under its chin. Its Japanese name, meaning 'beard penguin', comes from this line.

03

Where it nests alongside Adelie and gentoo penguins, it builds its nest on higher ground than they do.

How the Chinstrap penguin lives

They live and breed in large colonies. They dive into the sea and eat mainly krill. A courting male pumps his chest and stretches his head upward. When a male starts calling loudly, other penguins join in.

University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web

Basic data

Weight
3,000–5,000 g
Diet
Krill, small fish and other marine crustaceans
Range
Antarctic Peninsula and coastal islands of the continent
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web

Where the Chinstrap penguin has been recorded

World map with dots where the Chinstrap penguin has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

简体中文
南极企鹅
繁體中文
南極企鵝
한국어
턱끈펭귄
Português (Brasil)
Pinguim-de-barbicha
العربية
بطريق ملجم
Bahasa Indonesia
Penguin tali dagu

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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