Masses of macaroni penguins

by Matt Swarbrick for Bustling Bird Island, 7 December 2008

Bird Island near South Georgia is home to 80,000 (pretty smelly!) macaroni penguins. Two weeks earlier the rocks had been completely bare, it only took three days for the birds to almost completely cover their breeding site.

Explorer Matt Swarbrick ponders the mystery of why these birds lay an extra, unwanted egg whilst filming the huge colony.

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Matt amongst masses of macaronis

Penguins aren’t the only things to amass on this tiny island. Fur seals also come to Bird Island to breed in huge numbers each year. Follow their story in Surrounded by fur seals