Head to head
Macaroni Penguin vs Royal Penguin
These two crested penguins are so closely related that scientists still debate whether they are truly separate species or subspecies of one another.
| Macaroni Penguin | Royal Penguin | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Eudyptes chrysolophus | Eudyptes schlegeli |
| Facial colouring | A dark face with a golden crest | A predominantly white face with a pale golden crest |
| Breeding range | Multiple sub-Antarctic islands | Concentrated almost entirely on one island group |
| Population size | One of the most numerous penguin species | Colonies of well over a million at its main site |
| Taxonomic status | Widely treated as a distinct species | Debated as either a full species or a subspecies of macaroni |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable | Near Threatened |
| Population trend | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| Habitat | Ocean, coastal, polar | Ocean, coastal, polar |
Macaroni Penguin vs Royal Penguin: common questions
Are the macaroni penguin and royal penguin the same species?
This is genuinely debated, the two are closely related, and some authorities treat the royal penguin as a full species distinct from the macaroni penguin while others consider it a subspecies of the same species.
How can you tell them apart by their face colour?
The macaroni penguin has a dark face beneath its golden crest, while the royal penguin instead has a predominantly white face beneath a similar pale golden crest, one of the clearest visual differences between the two.
Which one is concentrated on a single island group?
The royal penguin is the one concentrated this way, breeding almost nowhere else on Earth except a single remote sub-Antarctic island group, unlike the macaroni penguin, which breeds across multiple sub-Antarctic islands.