Macaroni Penguin Colony — South Georgia Rookery

The slopes above Bay of Isles and Cooper Bay on South Georgia host the world's largest macaroni penguin colonies — over 2.5 million pairs on South Georgia alone — creating the densest seabird concentrations on Earth, where the hillsides above the beach are entirely covered with orange-crested penguins packed shoulder to shoulder in a living carpet of yellow and black that extends from the waterline to the skyline. The macaroni's extravagant golden-yellow crest — fanning outward from the centre of the forehead — gives it the most theatrical appearance of any penguin, and at colony density of 3,000 pairs per hectare the combined colour of millions of yellow crests creates a hillside that appears to glow orange from the approaching expedition ship. The noise and activity of a large macaroni colony at peak breeding is overwhelming — the combined calling of millions of birds creates a physical wall of sound, and the constant traffic of birds to and from the sea creates a flow of thousands of penguins moving past observers at close range in both directions simultaneously. South Georgia's extraordinary combined wildlife — king penguins, macaroni penguins, elephant seals, fur seals, wandering albatrosses, and light-mantled sooty albatrosses all within a day's walk — creates the most species-rich sub-Antarctic wildlife experience on Earth, and the macaroni colony is its most numerically overwhelming single component. The ice-capped peaks of South Georgia above the colony amplify the landscape drama considerably.