Most penguins are about as tall as a small child: roughly 40–75 cm (16–30 inches), with a few much taller or much shorter species.

Quick Scoop

  • The tallest living penguin is the emperor penguin, at about 110–120 cm (43–47 inches) standing height.
  • King penguins are a bit shorter, around 90–95 cm (35–37 inches).
  • Many “typical” medium penguins (gentoo, macaroni, chinstrap, Magellanic, African) cluster around 65–76 cm (about 26–30 inches), which is often used as a rough average for penguins overall.
  • Small warm‑weather species like the Galápagos penguin are only about 40–50 cm tall (16–19 inches).
  • The tiniest, the little penguin (also called fairy penguin), stands just 30–35 cm (12–14 inches) tall—about the height of a housecat’s back.

Some fossil “mega penguins” may have reached around 2 m (about 6½ feet), taller than many humans, but those giants are long extinct.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.