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Russell B. Aitken Sea Bird Colony
Magellanic Penguin
©WCS/J.Maher | On a slice of windswept South American coast, walk alongside rugged cliffs encircling rocky waters. Our enormous outdoor aviary is home to Magellanic penguins and other seabirds of Patagonia. Overhead, mustachioed Inca terns, black oystercatchers, and assorted gulls swoop and dive. On boulders jutting out of the waters, pairs of guanay cormorants spread out their wings to dry.
During daily penguin feedings at 3:30 p.m., our waddlers, the Magellanic penguins, come out of their dens or up from the deep, and bob for fresh fish. Feeding time is a perfect opportunity to ask zookeepers your questions about how they care for the birds.
The exhibit also highlights the work of WCS scientists along the Patagonian coast of Argentina, where more than two million Magellanic penguins nest. Our conservationists are helping to establish national parks and other preserves so that we can protect these spectacular colonies from the threat of growing fishing and oil industries.
Outside the sea bird colony, you’ll find other fine-feathered friends, including a colony of American flamingos, a family of lesser adjutant storks, and many more birds with webbed feet and waterproof feathers inside the Aquatic Bird House.
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