Gentoo penguin
Amazing fact
Gentoo penguins use their bills to coat their feathers with waterproofing oil.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Gentoo penguins use their bills to coat their feathers with waterproofing oil.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Gentoo penguin
- Scientific name
- Pygoscelis papua
- Japanese name
- ジェンツーペンギン
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Sphenisciformes
- Family
- Spheniscidae
- Genus
- Pygoscelis
A penguin found widely from the sub-Antarctic to Antarctica. Its way of life differs from place to place.
A white triangular patch spreads over the top of its head to both eyes, and its feet are bright orange.
It builds its nest out of small stones, and sometimes takes stones from other nests.
How the Gentoo penguin lives
They feed in shallow waters. Parents return to the nest and regurgitate freshly caught food for their chicks. After the chicks leave the nest, adults begin their annual molt.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Active
- By day (diurnal)University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Fish, crustaceans and cephalopodsUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Range
- Subantarctic to Antarctica名古屋港水族館
Where the Gentoo penguin has been recorded
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
- 日本語
- ジェンツーペンギン
- 简体中文
- 巴布亚企鹅
- 繁體中文
- 巴布亞企鵝
- 한국어
- 젠투펭귄
- Español
- Pingüino papúa
- Français
- Manchot papou
- Deutsch
- Eselspinguin
- Português (Brasil)
- Pinguim-gentoo
- Italiano
- Pinguino Papua
- العربية
- بطريق جنتو
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Penguin gentoo
- Tiếng Việt
- Chim cánh cụt Gentoo
- Русский
- Папуанский пингвин
- Türkçe
- Gento Pengueni
- ไทย
- เพนกวินเจนทู
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 名古屋港水族館 — ジェンツーペンギンChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Pygoscelis papuaChecked: 2026-11-03
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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