Gentoo penguins are the largest and least numerous of the Pygocelis penguins, length 75 cm (30 inches), and easily distinguished by a smart flash of white on the head and bright orange head and feet. Breeds in sometimes large 'rookeries', in the Falklands usually on low open coastal heath or grassland, often a considerable (hundreds of metres) walk from the sea.

Two eggs are laid and incubated for 33-34 days. Young are fully moulted by late January and leave for the sea in late February early March.

Circumpolar in sub- Antarctic and Antarctic seas between 45°S and 65°S. Breeds on the Antarctic Peninsular notably at 'Port Lockroy' , islands of the Scotia Arc and the Falklands.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Gentoo penguins as 'Near Threatened'.

Sources include: Falkland Islands State of the Environment Report 2008 Otley H, Munro G, Clausen A, Ingham B. A Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange, Guide to Birds of the Falkland Islands- Robin W. Woods.

Photographic credits: Robert Maddocks, Emma Brook

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