
Banded Penguins
Spheniscus
The banded penguins are penguins that belong to the genus Spheniscus. There are four living species, all with similar banded plumage-patterns. They are sometimes also known as "jack-ass penguins" due to their loud locator-calls sounding similar to a donkey braying. Common traits include a band of black that runs around their bodies bordering their black dorsal coloring, black beaks with a small vertical white band, distinct spots on their bellies, and a small patch of unfeathered or thinly feathered skin around their eyes and underdeveloped fluff sack that can be either white or pink. All members of this genus lay eggs and raise their young in nests situated in burrows or in natural depressions in the earth.
5 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 4 known species

Magellanic Penguin
speciesSpheniscus magellanicus

African Penguin
speciesSpheniscus demersus

Humboldt Penguin
speciesSpheniscus humboldti

Galápagos Penguin
speciesSpheniscus mendiculus
Spheniscus humboldti × magellanicus
hybridSpheniscus humboldti × magellanicus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Spheniscus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 3811.