Sea Lion Island has several penguin colonies and three different varieties are resident; Rockhopper, Magellanic and Gentoo. King and Macaroni Penguins also visit occasionally. There are also many other species of birds resident on the island.
The smallest penguins are the Rockhoppers. These are 13-14 inches tall and have distinctive yellow eyebrow crest feathers. Usually the colonies are mixed with King Cormorants. These are noisy (and smelly!) collections which are constantly on the move. Nests are made on mounds of peat and guano and sites are reoccupied year after year. Colonies are usually on the top of seemingly inaccessible cliffs. The Rockhoppers leap from the waves and claw their way up the rock face to reach their nests (frequently falling off and having to start again!)
Magellanic Penguins are slightly taller than Rockhoppers and nest underground in burrows. They usually nest some distance from the water and and take quite a while to waddle their way back home after a hard days' fishing.
Gentoo Penguins are just under two feet tall and usually nest on open heath or grassland. They are sleeker than Rockhoppers and Magellanics and have a distinctive red bill. The colonies on Sea-Lion Island are extensive and usually include what we have nicknamed 'the idiot'. This is a penguin who seems to have no nest and spends all its time running around the colony, annoying and being pecked by everyone else. All Gentoo colonies seem to have 'an idiot'. Again for some reason, they nest a good distance from the sea.