Macaroni penguin female are similar in appearance; males tend to be slightly larger. Males also bear relatively larger bills, which average around compared to in females; this feature has been used to tell the sexes apart. Immature birds are distinguished by their smaller size, smaller, duller-brown bill, dark grey chin and throat, and absent or underdeveloped head plumes, often just a scattering of yellow feathers. The crest is fully developed in birds aged three to four years, a year or two before breeding age. Macaroni penguins moult once a year, a process in which they replace all of their old feathers. They
Macaroni dish in North America, and is often made with elbow macaroni. The same dish, known simply as macaroni cheese, is also popular in Great Britain, where it originated. A sweet macaroni pudding containing milk and sugar (and rather similar to a rice pudding) was also popular with the British during the Victorian era. In areas with large Chinese populations open to Western cultural influence, such as Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia and Singapore, the local Chinese have adopted macaroni as an ingredient for Chinese-style Western cuisine. In Hong Kong's "cha chaan teng" ("tea restaurants") and Southeast Asia's "kopi tiam" ("coffee shops"),