A visit to South Georgia Island, which you will do most likely via an Expedition Cruise, is like visiting another world. While South Georgia is inhabitable due to its remoteness, weather, and mountainous topography, it’s a great place to visit during the “Summer” months of October to March. I had the pleasure to visit for 4 days in November 2019 with Quark Expeditions on a longer 18 night cruise to Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica. Please enjoy this information and photos of South Georgia penguins, and some of the other birds I photographed.
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All photos in this post were taken by me with a Panasonic Lumix Superzoom Camera. I recommend this camera if you want a good balance between quality, zoom, price (I only paid around $300) and a reasonably small camera size and weight.
South Georgia Penguins – Gentoo Penguins
One penguin you’re likely to see in South Georgia is the Gentoo Penguin. These penguins are common to Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica. Gentoos have distinctively red feet – the redder, the sexier to attract other Gentoos. This Gentoo was all by himself in a big group of King Penguins.
One of the coolest things to see is swimming Gentoos, they swim by jumping out of the water. It’s called porpoising.
South Georgia Penguins – Macaroni Penguins
“Stick a feather in a hat and call it Macaroni”… The Macaroni Penguins are very distinct because they have large yellow feathers on the sides of their heads. Considering that they don’t fly, these birds nest far up in the tussock grass on the cliffs and hills – how do they get there?
South Georgia Penguins – King Penguins
For many travelers, the main reason to visit South Georgia is to see the incredible number of King Penguins! The King Penguin is the second tallest penguin (just shorter than the Emperor) and beautiful with the yellow accents on its sleek necks. St. Andrew’s Bay is the place to see them – there half a million penguins on the beach! If you travel in November – December, you will see plenty of King Penguin Chicks – brown, fuzzy egg-shaped creatures. It’s incredible that the chicks can find it’s parents purely by sound in this populated rookery.
South Georgia Penguins You’re Less Likely to See
There are a few other penguins you may see there, but usually they’re lost, so you might see one all by itself. These include Magellanic (very common to see in Falkland Islands or southern South America), Adelie (very common in the Antarctic Peninsula), and Emperor (common in Antarctica but rare for a human to see them – they go inland during tourist season).
South Georgia Birds – Snowy Sheathbill
Snowy Sheathbills are beautiful birds in flight, with their pure white feathers. But their snouts are ugly and crusty. Perhaps that’s because they eat poop. In Antarctica, these birds would follow the penguins around and wait to eat their poop. So gross! But enjoy this picture of a Snowy Sheathbill landing on an iceberg in Royal Bay.
South Georgia Birds – Sooty Albatross
While not the largest Albatross species, for many, the Sooty Albatross is the favorite to see, with its cartoonish-ly huge eyes. We saw a Sooty nesting in the cliffs and grass in Royal Bay.
South Georgia Birds – South Georgia Pipit
The Pipit was nearly extinct due to the rats that took over the island, brought to the island by Whalers. Luckily the rats were recently eradicated so it’s expected these birds will recover. I was lucky to spot one of these little brown birds in Royal Bay but failed to get a photo.
Antarctic Cormorant or Antarctic Shag
These blue-eyed shags are common in South Georgia and Antarctica.
Antarctic Tern
The Antarctic Tern is a cousin of the Arctic tern. This adult and juvenile terns were taking a bird bath in a puddle in Grytviken, South Georgia.
Check out some of my other favorite birding destinations:
Torres del Paine in Chile – Condors and Rheas
1 comments
Will be following your adventures for sure!