The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flightless Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the ...

alcid An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

s, which were discovered later by Europeans and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk. It bred on rocky, remote islands with easy access to the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the great auks. When not breeding, they spent their time foraging in the waters of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

, ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. The bird was tall and weighed about , making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall (the prehistoric ''

Miomancalla ''Miomancalla'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California in the Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The ...

'' was larger). It had a black back and a white belly. The black

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food ...

was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. During summer, great auk plumage showed a white patch over each eye. During winter, the great auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes. The wings were only long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Its favourite prey were fish, including

Atlantic menhaden The Atlantic menhaden (''Brevoortia tyrannus'') is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae. Atlantic menhaden are found in North Atlantic coastal and estuarine waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida. They ar ...

and

capelin The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin ...

, and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. Great auk pairs mated for life. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. The egg was white with variable brown marbling. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around 6 weeks before the young hatched. The young left the nest site after 2–3 weeks, although the parents continued to care for it. The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many

Maritime Archaic The Maritime Archaic is a North American cultural complex of the Late Archaic along the coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England. The Maritime Archaic began in approximately 7000 BC and lasted into the 18th century. ...

people were buried with great auk bones. One burial discovered included someone covered by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Scientists soon began to realize that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but these proved ineffectual. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on

Eldey Eldey () is a small island about off the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland. Located west-southwest of Reykjavík, the island of Eldey covers an area of about , and rises to a height of . Its sheer cliffs are home to large ...

, off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt. Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. A record of one great auk in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species. The great auk is mentioned in several novels, and the scientific journal of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

was named ''

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...

'' (now ''Ornithology'') in honour of the bird until 2021.

Taxonomy and evolution

Pinguinus alfrednewtoni (fossil auk leg bone)

Analysis of

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

sequences In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called t ...

has confirmed morphological and

biogeographical Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, i ...

studies suggesting that the

razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis impe ...

is the closest living relative of the great auk. The great auk also was related closely to the

little auk The little auk or dovekie (''Alle alle'') is a small auk, the only member of the genus ''Alle''. ''Alle'' is the Sami name of the long-tailed duck; it is onomatopoeic and imitates the call of the drake duck. Linnaeus was not particularly famil ...

or dovekie, which underwent a radically different evolution compared to ''Pinguinus''. Due to its outward similarity to the razorbill (apart from flightlessness and size), the great auk often was placed in the genus ''Alca'', following Linnaeus. The fossil record (especially the

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

, ''Pinguinus alfrednewtoni'') and molecular evidence show that the three closely related genera diverged soon after their common ancestor, a bird probably similar to a stout

Xantus's murrelet Xantus's murrelet, native to the California Current system, has been split into two species: * Scripps's murrelet, ''Synthliboramphus scrippsi'' * Guadalupe murrelet The Guadalupe murrelet (''Synthliboramphus hypoleucus'') or Xantus' Murrelet is ...

, had spread to the coasts of the Atlantic. Apparently, by that time, the murres, or Atlantic

guillemot Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family (part of the order Charadriiformes). In British use, the term comprises two genera: ''Uria'' and ''Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species are c ...

s, already had split from the other Atlantic alcids. Razorbill-like birds were common in the Atlantic during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 The molecular data are compatible with either possibility, but the weight of evidence suggests placing the great auk in a distinct genus. Some ornithologists still believe it is more appropriate to retain the species in the genus ''Alca''. It is the only recorded British bird made extinct in historic times. The following

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

shows the placement of the great auk among its closest relatives, based on a 2004 genetic study: ''Pinguinus alfrednewtoni'' was a larger, and also flightless, member of the genus ''Pinguinus'' that lived during the Early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 Known from bones found in the

Yorktown Formation The Yorktown Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in the Coastal Plain of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It is overconsolidated and highly fossiliferous. Description The Yorktown is composed largely of overconsolidated san ...

of the Lee Creek Mine in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, it is believed to have split, along with the great auk, from a common ancestor. ''Pinguinus alfrednewtoni'' lived in the western Atlantic, while the great auk lived in the eastern Atlantic. After the former died out following the Pliocene, the great auk took over its territory. The great auk was not related closely to the other extinct genera of flightless alcids, ''

Mancalla Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). ...

'', ''

Praemancalla Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). ...

'', and ''

Alcodes Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). ...

''.

Etymology

The great auk was one of the 4,400 animal species formally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his eighteenth-century work ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

'', in which it was given the binomial ''Alca impennis''. The name ''Alca'' is a Latin derivative of the Scandinavian word for razorbills and their relatives. The bird was known in literature even before this and was described by Charles d'Ecluse in 1605 as ''Mergus Americanus.'' This also included a woodcut which represents the oldest unambiguous visual depictions of the bird. The species was not placed in its own scientific

, ''Pinguinus'', until 1791. The generic name is derived from the Spanish, Portuguese and French name for the species, in turn from Latin ''pinguis'' meaning "plump", and the specific name, ''impennis'', is from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and refers to the lack of

flight feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

s, or ''pennae''. The

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

name for the great auk is ''falcóg mhór'', meaning "big seabird/auk". The

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

name is ''arponaz'', meaning "spearbill". Its early

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

name was ''apponatz'', while modern French uses ''grand pingouin''. The Norse called the great auk ''geirfugl'', which means "spearbird". This has led to an alternative English common name for the bird, ''garefowl'' or ''gairfowl''. The

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

name for the great auk was ''isarukitsok'', which meant "little wing". The word "penguin" first appears in the sixteenth century as a synonym for "great auk". Although the etymology is debated, the generic name "penguin" may be derived from the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''pen gwyn'' "white head", either because the birds lived in Newfoundland on White Head Island (Pen Gwyn in Welsh), or, because the great auk had such large white circles on its head. When European explorers discovered what today are known as

s in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the great auk and named them after this bird, although biologically, they are not closely related. Whalers also lumped the northern and southern birds together under the common name "woggins".

Description

Standing about tall and weighing approximately as adult birds, the flightless great auk was the second-largest member of both its family and the order

Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water an ...

overall, surpassed only by the mancalline ''

''. It is, however, the largest species to survive into modern times. The great auks that lived farther north averaged larger in size than the more southerly members of the species. Males and females were similar in plumage, although there is evidence for differences in size, particularly in the bill and femur length. The back was primarily a glossy black, and the belly was white. The neck and legs were short, and the head and wings small. During summer, it developed a wide white eye patch over each eye, which had a hazel or chestnut iris. Auks are infamous for their close resemblance to penguins, their

webbed feet The webbed foot is a specialized limb with interdigital membranes (webbings) that aids in aquatic locomotion, present in a variety of tetrapod vertebrates. This adaptation is primarily found in semiaquatic species, and has convergently evolved m ...

and

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and ...

are a result of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

in the water. During winter the great auk

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

ed and lost this eye patch, which was replaced with a wide white band and a gray line of feathers that stretched from the eye to the ear. During the summer, its chin and throat were blackish-brown and the inside of the mouth was yellow. In winter, the throat became white. Some individuals reportedly had grey plumage on their flanks, but the purpose, seasonal duration, and frequency of this variation is unknown. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

was large at long and curved downward at the top; the bill also had deep white grooves in both the upper and lower mandibles, up to seven on the upper mandible and twelve on the lower mandible in summer, although there were fewer in winter. The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

s were only in length and the longest wing feathers were only long. Its feet and short claws were black, while the webbed skin between the toes was brownish black. The legs were far back on the bird's body, which gave it powerful swimming and diving abilities. Hatchlings were described as grey and downy, but their exact appearance is unknown, since no skins exist today. Juvenile birds had fewer prominent grooves in their beaks than adults and they had mottled white and black necks, while the eye spot found in adults was not present; instead, a grey line ran through the eyes (which still had white eye rings) to just below the ears. Great Auk calls included low croaking and a hoarse scream. A captive great auk was observed making a gurgling noise when anxious. It is not known what its other vocalizations were, but it is believed that they were similar to those of the

, only louder and deeper.

Distribution and habitat

The great auk was found in the cold

coastal waters along the coasts of Canada, the northeastern United States, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, Ireland, Great Britain, France, and the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. Pleistocene fossils indicate the great auk also inhabited

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and other coasts of the Mediterranean basin. The great auk left the North Atlantic waters for land only to breed, even roosting at sea when not breeding. The

rookeries A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals (true seals and sea lions), and ev ...

of the great auk were found from

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay ( Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arct ...

to the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

, across the far northern Atlantic, including Iceland, and in Norway and the British Isles in Europe. For their nesting colonies the great auks required rocky islands with sloping shorelines that provided access to the sea. These were very limiting requirements and it is believed that the great auk never had more than 20 breeding colonies. The nesting sites also needed to be close to rich feeding areas and to be far enough from the mainland to discourage visitation by predators such as humans and

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

s. The localities of only seven former breeding colonies are known:

Papa Westray Papa Westray () ( sco, Papa Westree), also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, United Kingdom. The fertile soilKeay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins. has long been a draw ...

in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, St. Kilda off Scotland, Grimsey Island, Eldey Island,

Geirfuglasker Geirfuglasker (, "Great Auk Rock") was a small islet near Reykjanes, Iceland. It was volcanic rock with steep sides except for two landing places. The rough surf around the island usually made it inaccessible to humans, and one of the last refug ...

near Iceland,

Funk Island Funk Island is a small, barren, isolated, uninhabited island approximately northeast of Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland, Canada. Geography The island is roughly trapezoidal in shape, with a maximum length of 0.8 km (½ mile) and a maximum wid ...

near

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and the Bird Rocks (Rochers-aux-Oiseaux) in the

. Records suggest that this species may have bred on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the breeding range of the great auk was restricted to Funk Island, Grimsey Island, Eldey Island, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the St. Kilda islands. Funk Island was the largest known breeding colony. After the chicks fledged, the great auk migrated north and south away from the breeding colonies and they tended to go southward during late autumn and winter. It also was common on the

Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

. In recorded history, the great auk typically did not go farther south than

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...

in the winter. Archeological excavations have found great auk remains in New England and Southern Spain. Great auk bones have been found as far south as

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where it may have been present during four periods: approximately 1000 BC and 1000 AD, as well as, during the fifteenth century and the seventeenth century. It has been suggested that some of the bones discovered in Florida may be the result of aboriginal trading.

Ecology and behaviour

The great auk was never observed and described by modern scientists during its existence and is only known from the accounts of laymen, such as sailors, so its behaviour is not well known and difficult to reconstruct. Much may be inferred from its close, living relative, the

, as well as from remaining soft tissue. Great auks walked slowly and sometimes used their wings to help them traverse rough terrain. When they did run, it was awkwardly and with short steps in a straight line. They had few natural predators, mainly large

marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reli ...

s, such as the

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

, and

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diur ...

s. Polar bears preyed on nesting colonies of the great auk. Reportedly, this species had no innate fear of human beings, and their flightlessness and awkwardness on land compounded their vulnerability. Humans preyed upon them as food, for feathers, and as specimens for museums and private collections. Great auks reacted to noises, but were rarely frightened by the sight of something. They used their bills aggressively both in the dense nesting sites and when threatened or captured by humans. These birds are believed to have had a life span of approximately 20 to 25 years. During the winter, the great auk migrated south, either in pairs or in small groups, but never with the entire nesting colony. The great auk was generally an excellent swimmer, using its wings to propel itself underwater. While swimming, the head was held up but the neck was drawn in. This species was capable of banking, veering, and turning underwater. The great auk was known to dive to depths of and it has been claimed that the species was able to dive to depths of . To conserve energy, most dives were shallow. It also could hold its breath for 15 minutes, longer than a seal. Its ability to dive so deeply reduced competition with other alcid species. The great auk was capable of accelerating underwater, then shooting out of the water to land on a rocky ledge above the ocean's surface.

Diet

This alcid typically fed in shoaling waters that were shallower than those frequented by other alcids, although after the breeding season, they had been sighted as far as from land. They are believed to have fed cooperatively in flocks. Their main food was fish, usually in length and weighing , but occasionally their prey was up to half the bird's own length. Based on remains associated with great auk bones found on

and on ecological and morphological considerations, it seems that

and

were their favoured prey. Other fish suggested as potential prey include

lumpsucker The Cyclopteridae are a family of marine fishes, commonly known as lumpsuckers or lumpfish, in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans. The greatest number of species ar ...

shorthorn sculpin ''Myoxocephalus scorpius'', typically known as the shorthorn sculpin or bull-rout, is a species of fish in the family Cottidae. It is a demersal species of the Northern Atlantic and adjacent subarctic and Arctic seas.

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

sand lance A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lances are commonly known as "sand eels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, and all names of the fish are ...

, as well as crustaceans. The young of the great auk are believed to have eaten

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

and, possibly, fish and crustaceans regurgitated by adults.

Reproduction

Historical descriptions of the great auk breeding behaviour are somewhat unreliable. Great Auks began pairing in early and mid-May. They are believed to have mated for life (although some theorize that great auks could have mated outside their pair, a trait seen in the razorbill). Once paired, they nested at the base of cliffs in colonies, likely where they copulated. Mated pairs had a social display in which they bobbed their heads and displayed their white eye patch, bill markings, and yellow mouth. These colonies were extremely crowded and dense, with some estimates stating that there was a nesting great auk for every of land. These colonies were very social. When the colonies included other species of alcid, the great auks were dominant due to their size. Pinguinus impennis MWNH 0508

Female great auks would lay only one egg each year, between late May and early June, although they could lay a replacement egg if the first one was lost. In years when there was a shortage of food, the great auks did not breed. A single egg was laid on bare ground up to from shore. The egg was ovate and elongate in shape, and it averaged in length and across at the widest point. The egg was yellowish white to light ochre with a varying pattern of black, brown, or greyish spots and lines that often were congregated on the large end. It is believed that the variation in the egg streaks enabled the parents to recognize their egg among those in the vast colony. The pair took turns incubating the egg in an upright position for the 39 to 44 days before the egg hatched, typically in June, although eggs could be present at the colonies as late as August. The parents also took turns feeding their chick. According to one account, the chick was covered with grey down. The young bird took only two or three weeks to mature enough to abandon the nest and land for the water, typically around the middle of July. The parents cared for their young after they fledged, and adults would be seen swimming with their young perched on their backs. Great auks matured sexually when they were four to seven years old.

Relationship with humans

The great auk was a food source for

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

s more than 100,000 years ago, as evidenced by well-cleaned bones found by their campfires. Images believed to depict the great auk also were carved into the walls of the El Pendo Cave in Camargo, Spain, and Paglicci, Italy, more than 35,000 years ago, and cave paintings 20,000 years old have been found in France's Grotte Cosquer. Native Americans valued the great auk as a food source during the winter and as an important cultural symbol. Images of the great auk have been found in bone necklaces. A person buried at the

site at

Port au Choix Port au Choix or Port aux Choix (, ; from misanalyzed to mean 'choice port', from eu, Portutxoa , meaning 'little port') is a town in the Canada, Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Demographi ...

, dating to about 2000 BC, was found surrounded by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are believed to have been part of a suit made from their skins, with the heads left attached as decoration. Nearly half of the bird bones found in graves at this site were of the great auk, suggesting that it had great cultural significance for the Maritime Archaic people. The extinct

Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland. Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples w ...

s of Newfoundland made pudding out of the eggs of the great auk. The Dorset Eskimos also hunted it. The

Saqqaq Saqqaq (old spelling: ''Sarqaq'') is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland. Founded in 1755 as Solsiden, Saqqaq had 132 inhabitants in 2020. The village's Kalaallisut name is a translation of the Danish meaning "Sunny Sid ...

in Greenland overhunted the species, causing a local reduction in range. Wormius' Great Auk

Later, European sailors used the great auks as a navigational beacon, as the presence of these birds signalled that the

were near. This species is estimated to have had a maximum population in the millions. The great auk was hunted on a significant scale for food, eggs, and its

down feather The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator an ...

s from at least the eighth century. Prior to that, hunting by local natives may be documented from Late Stone Age

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

and eastern North America, as well as from early fifth century

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

, where the bird seems to have occurred only as stragglers. Early explorers, including

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of th ...

, and numerous ships attempting to find gold on

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

were not provisioned with food for the journey home, and therefore, used great auks as both a convenient food source and bait for fishing. Reportedly, some of the later vessels anchored next to a colony and ran out planks to the land. The sailors then herded hundreds of great auks onto the ships, where they were slaughtered. Some authors have questioned the reports of this hunting method and whether it was successful. Great auk eggs were also a valued food source, as the eggs were three times the size of a

murre ''Uria'' is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Britain as guillemots, in most of North America as murres, and in Newfoundland and Labrador as turr. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding sea ...

's and had a large yolk. These sailors also introduced rats onto the islands which preyed upon nests.

Extinction

The

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...

may have reduced the population of the great auk by exposing more of their breeding islands to predation by polar bears, but massive exploitation by humans for their down drastically reduced the population, with recent evidence indicating the latter alone is likely the primary driver of its extinction. By the mid-sixteenth century, the nesting colonies along the European side of the Atlantic were nearly all eliminated by humans killing this bird for its down, which was used to make pillows. In 1553, the great auk received its first official protection. In 1794, Great Britain banned the killing of this species for its feathers. In St. John's, those violating a 1775 law banning hunting the great auk for its feathers or eggs were publicly flogged, though hunting for use as fishing bait was still permitted. On the North American side,

eider Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...

down initially was preferred, but once the eiders were nearly driven to extinction in the 1770s, down collectors switched to the great auk at the same time that hunting for food, fishing bait, and oil decreased. The great auk had disappeared from

by 1800. An account by Aaron Thomas of HMS ''Boston'' from 1794 described how the bird had been slaughtered systematically until then: Eldey close

With its increasing rarity, specimens of the great auk and its eggs became collectible and highly prized by rich Europeans, and the loss of a large number of its eggs to collection contributed to the demise of the species. Eggers, individuals who visited the nesting sites of the great auk to collect their eggs, quickly realized that the birds did not all lay their eggs on the same day, so they could make return visits to the same breeding colony. Eggers only collected the eggs without embryos and typically, discarded the eggs with embryos growing inside of them. On the islet of

Stac an Armin Stac an Armin ( gd, Stac an Àrmainn), based on the proper Scottish Gaelic spelling (formerly ''àrmuinn''), is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago. It is 196 metres (643 ft.) tall, qualifying it as a Marilyn. It is the highest sea st ...

, St. Kilda, Scotland, in July 1840, the last great auk seen in Britain was caught and killed. Three men from St. Kilda caught a single "garefowl", noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days, until a large storm arose. Believing that the bird was a witch and was causing the storm, they then killed it by beating it with a stick. Grote alk -KBIN-

The last colony of great auks lived on

(the "Great Auk Rock") off Iceland. This islet was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs that made it inaccessible to humans, but in 1830, the islet submerged after a volcanic eruption, and the birds moved to the nearby island of

, which was accessible from a single side. When the colony initially was discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins of the great auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, was killed there on 3 June 1844, on request from a merchant who wanted specimens, with Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangling the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashing the egg with his boot. Great auk specialist

John Wolley John Wolley (13 May 1823 – 20 November 1859) was an English naturalist best known for his large collection of oology, bird eggs and studies on the dodo and great auk. Life and work Wolley was born at Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock on 13 May 1 ...

interviewed the two men who killed the last birds, and Sigurður described the act as follows:

Sightings

A later claim of a live individual sighted in 1852 on the

has been accepted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

). There is an ongoing discussion on the internet about the possibilities for reviving the great auk using its DNA from specimens collected. This possibility is controversial.

Preserved specimens

Today, 78 skins of the great auk remain, mostly in museum collections, along with approximately 75 eggs and 24 complete skeletons. All but four of the surviving skins are in summer plumage, and only two of these are immature. No hatchling specimens exist. Each egg and skin has been assigned a number by specialists. Although thousands of isolated bones were collected from nineteenth century

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s, only a few complete skeletons exist. Natural mummies also are known from Funk Island, and the eyes and internal organs of the last two birds from 1844 are stored in the

Zoological Museum, Copenhagen The Copenhagen Zoological Museum (Danish: ''Zoologisk Museum'') is a part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen. History The Zoological Museum It is among the world's oldest natural hist ...

. The whereabouts of the skins from the last two individuals has been unknown for more than a hundred years, but that mystery has been partly resolved using DNA extracted from the organs of the last individuals and the skins of the candidate specimens suggested by

Errol Fuller Errol Fuller (born 19 June 1947) is an English writer and artist who lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, grew up in South London, and was educated at Addey and Stanhope School. He is the author of a series of bo ...

(those in

Übersee-Museum Bremen The Overseas Museum in Bremen (german: Übersee Museum Bremen) is a Natural History and ethnographic museum in northern Germany. In an integrated exhibition of Nature, Culture and Trading, the museum presents aspects of overseas regions with perm ...

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium (french: Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique, nl, Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België) is a museum dedicated to natural history, located in Brussels, Belgium. The museum is a part of t ...

Zoological Museum of Kiel University The Zoological Museum of Kiel University is a zoological museum in Kiel, Germany. It was founded by naturalist Karl Möbius, and architect Martin Gropius designed the building. The exhibitions display systematics, evolution, tropical and German ...

Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large coll ...

, and Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg). A positive match was found between the organs from the male individual and the skin now in the RBINS in Brussels. No match was found between the female organs and a specimen from Fuller's list, but authors speculate that the skin in

Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science The Cincinnati Museum Center is a museum complex operating out of the Cincinnati Union Terminal in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It houses museums, theater, a library, and a symphonic pipe organ, as well as special traveling e ...

may be a potential candidate due to a common history with the L.A. specimen. Organs of the last great auks

Following the bird's extinction, remains of the great auk increased dramatically in value, and auctions of specimens created intense interest in Victorian Britain, where 15 specimens are now located, the largest number of any country. A specimen was bought in 1971 by the Icelandic Museum of National History for £9000, which placed it in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the most expensive stuffed bird ever sold. The price of its eggs sometimes reached up to 11 times the amount earned by a skilled worker in a year. The present whereabouts of six of the eggs are unknown. Several other eggs have been destroyed accidentally. Two mounted skins were destroyed in the twentieth century, one in the

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Museum during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and one in the Museu Bocage,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

that was destroyed by a fire in 1978.

Cultural depictions

Children's books

The great auk is one of the more frequently referenced extinct birds in literature, much like the famous

dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...

. It appears in many works of children's literature.

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

's ''

The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby ''The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby'' is a children's novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–63 as a serial for ''Macmillan's Magazine'', it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in ...

'' includes a great auk telling the tale of the extinction of its species.

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

's ''

The Island of Adventure ''The Island of Adventure'' (published in 1944) is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the first book in the Adventure Series. The first edition was illustrated by Stuart Tresilian. Plot summary During school holidays, Jack, his si ...

'' features the bird's extinction, sending the protagonist on a failed search for what he believes is a lost colony of the species.

Literature

The great auk also is present in a wide variety of other works of fiction. In the short story ''The Harbor-Master'' by

Robert W. Chambers Robert William Chambers (May 26, 1865 – December 16, 1933) was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled '' The King in Yellow'', published in 1895. Life Chambers was born in Brooklyn, New York, t ...

, the discovery and attempted recovery of the last known pair of great auks is central to the plot (which also involves a proto-

Lovecraftian Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named a ...

element of suspense). The story first appeared in ''Ainslee's Magazine'' (August 1898) and was slightly revised to become the first five chapters of Chambers' episodic novel ''In Search of the Unknown'', (Harper and Brothers Publishers, New York, 1904). In his novel ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'',

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

mentions the bird while the novel's main character is drifting into sleep. He associates the great auk with the mythical roc as a method of formally returning the main character to a sleepy land of fantasy and memory. '' Penguin Island'', a 1908 French satirical novel by the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winning author

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

, narrates the fictional history of a great auk population that is mistakenly baptized by a

nearsighted Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. A great auk is collected by fictional naturalist

Stephen Maturin Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of hi ...

in the

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

historical novel ''

The Surgeon's Mate ''The Surgeon's Mate'' is the seventh historical novel in the Aubrey–Maturin series written by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1980. The story is set during the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars. Buoyed by victory over an American ship ...

''. This work also details the harvesting of a colony of auks. The great auk is the subject of ''The Last Great Auk'', a novel by Allen Eckert, which tells of the events leading to the extinction of the great auk as seen from the perspective of the last one alive.

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

devotes the first section, "Spearbill", of his book ''Sea of Slaughter'' to the history of the great auk.

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

warns that humans could suffer the same fate as the great auk in his short poem "A Caution to Everybody".

W.S. Merwin William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose, and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thema ...

mentions the great auk in a short litany of extinct animals in his poem "For a Coming Extinction", one of the seminal poems from his 1967 collection, "The Lice". ''

Night of the Auk ''Night of the Auk'' is a 1956 Broadway drama in three acts written by Arch Oboler. It is a science fiction drama in blank verse about space travelers returning to Earth after the first Moon landing. The play was based on Oboler's radio play ''Rock ...

'', a 1956 Broadway drama by Arch Oboler, depicts a group of astronauts returning from the moon to discover that a full-blown nuclear war has broken out. Obeler draws a parallel between the anthropogenic extinction of the great auk and of the story's nuclear extinction of humankind.

Audio drama

The

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

audio drama ''Last Chance'', produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

, depicts the killing of the final breeding pair in 1844.

Performing arts

This bird also is featured in a variety of other media. It is the subject of a ballet, '' Still Life at the Penguin Café'', and a song, "A Dream Too Far", in the ecological musical

Rockford's Rock Opera ''Rockford's Rock Opera'' is an ecological musical story created by Matthew Sweetapple, Steve Punt and Elaine Sweetapple. It was first released on the Internet and also as a three-album set by Sweetapple in 2010. ''Rockford's Rock Opera'' uses a ...

. A great auk appears as a prized possession of Baba the Turk in

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

's opera ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...

'' (libretto by

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and

Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in ...

Mascots

The great auk is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the

Archmere Academy Archmere Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in Claymont, Delaware, United States. 514 students were enrolled for the 202021 academic year. The academy is co-educational and is run independently within the Roman ...

Claymont, Delaware Claymont is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware. The estimated 2017 population of the 19703 ZIP code, which Claymont encompasses, was 15,292. History The community now known as Claymont started on the banks of Naamans C ...

, and the

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

Choral Society (AUCS) in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The great auk was formerly the mascot of the Lindsay Frost campus of

Sir Sandford Fleming College Fleming College, also known as Sir Sandford Fleming College, is an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology located in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. The college has an enrollment of more than 6,800 full-time and 10,000 part-time student ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. In 2012, the two separate sports programs of Fleming College were combined and the great auk mascot went extinct. The Lindsay Frost campus student owned bar, student center, and lounge is still known as the Auk's Lodge. It was also the mascot of the now ended

Knowledge Masters The Knowledge Master Open (commonly known as Knowledge Masters or KMO) was a computer-based semiannual worldwide academic competition produced by Academic Hallmarks. During KMO competitions, teams of students from many schools earned points by answe ...

educational competition.

Names

The scientific journal of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

is named ''

'' in honour of this bird. According to

Homer Hickam Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. (born February 19, 1943) is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir '' Rocket Boys'' (also published as ''October Sky'') was a ''New ...

's memoir, ''

Rocket Boys ''October Sky '' is the first memoir in a series of four, by American engineer Homer Hickam, Homer Hickam Jr. originally published in 1998 as ''Rocket Boys''. Later editions were published under the title ''October Sky'' as a tie-in to the 1999 ...

'', and its film production, ''

October Sky ''October Sky'' is a 1999 American biographical drama film directed by Joe Johnston and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern. The screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on the memoir of the same name, tells the true ...

'', the early rockets he and his friends built, ironically were named "Auk". A cigarette company, the British Great Auk Cigarettes, was named after this bird.

Fine arts

Walton Ford Walton Ford (born 1960 in Larchmont, New York) is an American artist who makes paintings and prints in the style of naturalist illustrations, often depicting extinct species. Each of his paintings is a meticulous, realistic study in flora and fa ...

, the American painter, has featured great auks in two paintings: "The Witch of St. Kilda" and "Funk Island". The English painter and writer

produced "Last Stand" for his monograph on the species. The great auk also appeared on one stamp in a set of five depicting extinct birds issued by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in 1974.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1844 in the environment Alcinae Articles containing video clips Atlantic auks Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1758 Birds in the United Kingdom Birds of Greenland Birds of Iceland Birds of Scandinavia Extinct animals of Canada Extinct animals of the United States Extinct birds of Atlantic islands Extinct birds of Europe Extinct birds of North America Extinct flightless birds Native birds of Eastern Canada Native birds of the Eastern United States Pleistocene birds of North America Pliocene birds of North America Quaternary birds of Europe Species made extinct by human activities Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Zanclean first appearances kl:Apparluk