#1469 · 🐦 birds
African Penguin
🇳🇱 Zwartvoetpinguïn ·Spheniscus demersus
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
The African penguin ( Spheniscus demersus ), also known as the jackass penguin and black-footed penguin is a species of penguin, confined to southern African waters. It is also widely known as the "jackass" penguin for its donkey-like bray, although several related species of South American penguins produce the same sound. Like all extant penguins it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. 5 kg...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 6,785 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs only about 103 g.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
- Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- African Penguin
- Nederlands
- Zwartvoetpinguïn
- scientific name
- Spheniscus demersus
- class
- Aves
- order
- Sphenisciformes
- family
- Spheniscidae
- IUCN Red List
- CR · critically endangered
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 6,785
- GBIF records in NL
- 2
- weight
- 103 g
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: ernstig bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Spheniscidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 3813, Wikidata Q244813, GBIF 5229384, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.