Magellanic penguins typically mate for life and are excellent parents. After a female reaches maturity at four years, she will lay two eggs per breeding season in a burrow. The couple takes two-week shifts guarding the clutch during the 39 to 42 day incubation period while the other forages for food. This pattern continues for thirty days after the chicks are born. When they are 40 to 70 days old, the fledglings head toward the open sea in mass. They are joined by other juveniles and some adults for the northward migration.