New Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus colony in a subantarctic island

Abstract

This paper provides data on a newly discovered colony of Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. A new settlement was found while conducting southern rockhopper penguin Eudyptes chrysocome studies in the San Juan de Salvamento colony in Staten Island, Argentina. The colony holds 88 breeding pairs. While the origin of the founders was unknown, it is possible that they came from the nearby Observatorio Island colony located ~ 20 km away. New colonies allow populations to expand and establish in new areas, which could allow a species to respond to changes in climate. Nonetheless, this expansion might be a detriment to other penguin species that already occupied the area.