Magellanic penguins always return to same mate after solo journeys totaling 200,000 miles. Magellanic Penguins stay together in flocks as they hunt for food. They join larger colonies on land when breeding season arrives.
Female Magellanic Penguins mature sexually around 4 years of age, males around 5 years. Magellanic Penguins gather in huge nesting colonies during the breeding season along the coasts of the Falkland Islands, the south end of Chile, and Argentina. These colonies can number as high as 400,000 individuals. The Magellanic Penguins are monogamous, returning to the same mating partner every year. The male will usually arrive a bit earlier during mating season to make sure some other opportunistic Penguin hasn’t tried to move into their burrow. The female is able to find her mate through his call. The Penguins begin arriving and mating in September, the egg laying begins in October.