Megallanic penguins:
Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos on 97-hectare Isla Magdalena in the Straits of Magellan 37 km northeast of Punta Areans is home to a colony of more than 150,000 Megallanic penguins, Sphenicus magellanicus. The birds are present in the breeding colony from early October to April.
A trail leads from the dock on the leeward side of the island up the hill to the Faro Magdalena lighthouse, built by Scottish engineer George Slight in 1901.
Other birds nesting on Isla Magdalena include imperial cormorants, rock cormorants, dolphin gulls, kelp gulls, Chilean skuas, and south American terns.
The natural monument also includes smaller Isla Marta, which hosts a sea lion colony.
Megallanic penguons also breed in smaller numbers on other islands in the Straits of Magellan.
King penguins:
King penguins began to return in 2011 to a historic rookery at Parque Pinguino Rey at Estancia San Clemente on Bahia Inutil on Tierra del Fuego across the Straits of Magellan from Punta Arenas. Currently around one hundred king penguins occupy the rookery.
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Last modified 30 December 2023