Great auk message. The Great Auk is a bird exterminated due to human stupidity and greed. Great Auk †

The last pair of great auks was destroyed by two poachers in 1844; fortunately, there is still a surviving related species of auks that lives on the islands of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The names of these two people are known to everyone; we will indicate them at the end of this short but very informative article.

Appearance

The height of the bird reached from 70 to 82 cm, the beak was very massive and hooked, somewhat reminiscent of the beak of the living pelican bird, its size varied from 77 to 100 millimeters, and there were from 7 to 12 characteristic depressions on the upper and lower jaws.

The weight of this magnificent wingless bird reached more than 5 kilograms due to the huge amount of subcutaneous fat, which served to maintain the desired body temperature.

Outwardly, this bird was very similar to an ordinary penguin. The body color of females and males was practically no different. The belly was white and the back was black. On its short paws there were three fingers, which were connected to each other by webbed thin skin.

The wings were small and could reach 15 cm, while the flight feathers were no more than 10 cm. Around her eyes there was a huge white spot that appeared in the summer and then disappeared. The membranes of both eyes were chestnut or hazel colored.

Place and habitat

This type of bird preferred to inhabit the uninhabited islands of the North Atlantic. We present the most common regions where prehistoric birds lived and reproduced en masse in this list:

• Fans Islands;
• Iceland;
• English Isles;
• Scandinavia;

In those days it could be found a little further south. Anthropologists have found their remains in Florida, Gibraltar, Italy and other areas of the Mediterranean.

Lifestyle

They settled and nested in huge colonies. It is no secret that this species was the largest and weighed an order of magnitude more than a modern animal from the auk family. Its body weight was more than that of a domestic goose.

In the process of evolution, the bird's wings became small and therefore it lost the ability to fly.. The limbs of the great auk were moved far to the end of the body, based on this fact; she became an impeccable and fast swimmer. However, on land it was extremely clumsy and very vulnerable to predators and poachers.

Based on reliable sources, we can say; that ancient tribes began to consume its meat in 1590, and the systematic extermination of this species began at the end of the eighteenth century and continued until the 44th year of this century.

Caravans of a variety of ships were drawn to the Icelandic islands, eager to fill it to capacity with auk meat, and then sell the fishery to Napoleonic army. Merchants and the wealthy layer of people of that time valued not only the meat of the auk, but also its down and feathers.

Habitat

She spent most of her life in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Large individuals of this species tried to live as close to shallow water as possible.

The place of immediate residence was the rocky uninhabited islands that were located near Newfoundland near Iceland. The question may naturally arise; why exactly these places were inhabited by extinct prehistoric birds?

The answer is more than obvious, the fact is that even in our time this territory is oversaturated a huge amount fish and is the fishing zone of the above-described states.

Despite the fact that she could not fly, she led a nomadic lifestyle and could change her habitat - traveling by water from one island to another.

Nutrition

The diet of these birds was very modest, but at the same time voluminous. The daily menu included:

• Fish (Pacific herring);
• Crustaceans;

Although the great auk was a clumsy, sluggish bird on land, it was a master when on land. One could only envy her diving and swimming skills.

Thanks to special membranes on her limbs, she could develop enormous speed during underwater hunting, and her short limbs also served as a rudder. Short wings helped not only to skillfully maneuver during scuba diving, but also to get out of the water.

Reproduction

By nature, they were silent birds; only during the mating season did the males make hoarse and whining sounds, calling on their partner to create a pair.

The breeding season occurred at the end of May and lasted until mid-July. During nesting, they gathered and nested in huge groups, there is such an opinion; that they could nest near other bird species. For nesting, they preferred to choose steep and rocky landscapes of the island, probably so that predators could not destroy their clutch.

There was only one greenish-blue egg in the clutch, and both parents hatched it. His parents supported him between their short legs and warmed him with their thick down, like a penguin.

44 days will pass and the baby will hatch; its delicate skin was wrapped in thick white fluff, which reliably warmed it in the harsh northern climatic conditions. The chicks were fed alternately. When feathers replaced down on his body, he could go down to the water and lead independent image life.

Lifespan

There are currently no exact data. We assume that they could live in wildlife no more than 22 years old.

1. The names of the people who killed the last two auks. They were; Sigurd Ilefsson and Jon Bradsson.
2. From official sources we learned; that in one day poachers collected more than one hundred thousand auk eggs, and boats left the hunting grounds filled to the brim with the dead bodies of these now extinct birds.
3. Based on archaeological excavations, it can be argued that; ancient people hunted this bird - eight thousand years ago.
4. The stuffed auk was sold to the Icelandic Museum in 1971 for £9,000.
5. Since the 12th century, ancient tribes buried the deceased along with the bones of these birds.
6. People of that time valued not only meat, but also feathers and down of this bird were actively bought by merchants.

Great auk (Alca impennis Linnaeus, 1758)

Class:Aves

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Alcidae

Dimensions: Height - 85 cm, weight - 5 kg

Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene in the waters of the North Atlantic

The great auk was a flightless bird of the alcid family that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus(unrelated to penguins, although it was the first bird to be called penguin). It bred on rocky, isolated 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 auks. When not breeding, the auks spent their time foraging in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as northern Spain and also around the coast of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain.

The great auk was 75 to 85 centimeters tall and weighed around 5 kilograms, making it the second largest member of the alcid family ( Miomancalla was larger). It had a black back and a white belly. The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. During summer, the great auk's plumage showed a white patch over each eye. During winter, the auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes. The wings were only 15 centimeters long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead , the auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it was used in hunting. Its favorite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin, and crustaceans. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. The egg was white with variable brown marbling. Both parents incubated the egg for about six weeks before the young hatched. 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 people were buried with great auk bones, and one was buried covered in over 200 auk beaks, which are assumed to have been part of a cloak made of their skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the 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 which 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 this proved not to be enough. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. On July 3, 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, which also eliminated the last known breeding attempt. There are unconfirmed later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught. A record of a bird in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of the species. scientific journal of the American Ornithologists" Union is named The Auk in honor of this bird.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A. Lebedev

The article is devoted to an extinct flightless bird - the great auk.

Everyone knows the penguins that inhabit the southern hemisphere, but few people know that the word “penguin” itself came from the north (however, some people probably still think that penguins live in the Arctic along with Polar bears). But earlier this was the name given to a completely different bird (though a little similar), the great auk. There are different versions of the origin of this word. According to one of them, it comes from the phrase “pen gwyn” (white-headed), according to another version it comes from the words “pin wing” (pin wing), and finally, the third option is from the Latin “pingus” (thick). Over time, this name passed into many languages, and then generally changed the object that was called this word.

The great auk was well known to European sailors, and when they saw similar birds in the southern seas, they were immediately named penguins. Although it is worth noting that these systematically distant birds, due to similar living conditions, are indeed very similar in appearance. The great auk lost the ability to fly and had only underdeveloped wings. On land she walked awkwardly, stretched out vertically and swaying from one foot to the other. But in the sea, no one would recognize these clumsy birds: like penguins, the auk swam and dived excellently, flapping its wings under water. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat served as reliable thermal insulation during long stays in water.

This bird had many other names, which suggests that people have known this bird since ancient times. The ancient Scandinavians called the auk "geirfugel" (spear bird), and the Basques called it "arponaz" (spear bird). Both of these names arose due to the powerful elongated beak of the auk. The modern English name great auk (great auk) appeared only in the 18th century.

In historical times, the great auk was widespread along the coasts and islands of the entire North Atlantic (from Labrador and Newfoundland to Greenland and Iceland, and from Norway to the British Isles). It was a large bird, the size of a goose. The height of an adult auk was 75–85 cm. The length of the wings was only 150–170 mm. Due to constant persecution by people, the poor bird's distribution area was rapidly shrinking. Even before the beginning of the 10th century, people tried to make the great auk disappear from the coast of the continent, finding refuge on inaccessible, rocky islands. But this could no longer save these birds. By the 10th century, miners were no longer interested so much in spearfish meat, but in fat and soft elastic feathers, which became a valuable commodity in many places in Europe. Gradually, the great auk became an inhabitant of only the northern inaccessible islands. But with the development of navigation, man was able to get there.

The great auk was perfectly adapted to living in water. She nested on rocks and islands remote from the coast along with other birds,

The number of seabirds in the colonies around the island of Newfoundland shocked the first European travelers. In such inaccessible conditions, the auk could not be reached by land predators, except for one. Since ancient times, the great auk has been the object of fishing for coastal residents. The inability to fly, gullibility, and huge nesting congregations made it an easy prey. It didn't take much effort to get the Great Auk. They were killed with clubs, oars, sticks, and driven into boats on a plank thrown over the side as many of them could fit there. Sailors, stocking up on provisions for a long voyage, salted large fat birds in barrels. Ships with holds filled with auks departed from the islands. Egg fishing has also been carried out for a long time.

For seafarers forced for a long time eating corned beef and crackers, seabird colonies were a salvation. Great auks were the most profitable and easy prey, which is why they got the most. The birds nesting in the area of ​​the island of Newfoundland were unlucky; they were just on the way from Europe to the New England colonies. Ships continually approached the bird islands to replenish provisions and left with their holds completely filled. Later, settlers joined the fishermen. For many of them, birds were the main food. With the growing population on the Atlantic coast of America, the procurement of seabird meat and eggs became increasingly profitable business. No less devastation than the procurement of meat and eggs was caused by the extraction of fat; the demand for it at that time was very high. The great auk was an ideal subject for this.

And, despite this insane incessant extermination, great auks survived for several centuries, so colossal was their number before that. The spearmen were finished off by the increased demand for feathers and down in the second half of the 18th century, which were used to make pillows, feather beds and furniture upholstery. Eiders and many other species also suffered. Only in 1794 did the London Colonial Secretary prohibit the destruction of spearmen for the feather trade. But this ban came too late, and besides, no one was going to implement it. By 1802, the last penguin colony in North America on Funk Island was completely destroyed.

For several more decades, pitiful remnants of great auk colonies remained in the north Atlantic. They could no longer be of any interest to the fishery. Only two tiny islands off the southwestern coast of Iceland near the Reykjanes Peninsula became the last refuge of great auks. Actually, these were not islands, but just rocks in the sea. These are the islands of Geirfuglasker and Elday. Geirfuglasker served as a reliable refuge for birds. The island was almost inaccessible due to the strong surf. Fishing on these islands was not very profitable, since two nearby monasteries demanded 3/4 of the production as a duty. But in the winter of 1830, the island of Geirfuglasker was swallowed up by the sea as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption. Only a tiny colony of Great Auks remains on Elday Island.

By that time, meat and feather miners had already forgotten about the spearman as an object of fishing. But then collectors entered the arena, putting an end to this tragedy. When everyone began to understand that the days of the “northern penguin” were numbered, prices for stuffed auks and eggs skyrocketed, and many museums and private collectors wanted to get their hands on copies. It is not even known approximately what the number of spearmen was during the times of their prosperity. The numbers only reflect how many birds were killed in last years existence of the species.

1830 - 13 birds

1831 - 24 birds

1833 – 13 birds

1834 – 9 birds

1840 - 1841 - 3 birds

The last two birds were killed on June 3, 1844. Whether these birds were truly the last representatives of their species will never be established. In any case, they are the ones who went down in history. After this, for more than ten years there were reports of sightings of great auks in various places, but it was not possible to verify them.”

From the once thriving species, 78 stuffed animals and carcasses remain in museums, about 75 eggs and several skeletons. Now they cost a lot of money. Now on the island of Elday there is a small memorial in the form of a statue of a great auk; this sculpture has become a symbol of the lost natural heritage.

The author has already written about completely exterminated dodo and the moa bird... In total, from 1600 to the present, more than 95 species of birds have become extinct. A quarter of them died out due to natural causes, and the disappearance of the remaining species is associated directly or indirectly, such as direct extermination, destruction of habitats, and the introduction of rats, dogs, cats

Active colonization of new lands, especially remote islands, where birds had no natural enemies at all, was often accompanied by the complete disappearance of the species.

For example, in North and Central America, European settlers exterminated 31 species, and the largest extinctions of species occurred in island faunas: 86% of the bird species living there became extinct on the Mascarene Islands, 39% on Guadeloupe, 60% on the islands of Lazon and Midway, Hawaiian Islands - 60% of species.

For example, in 1681 the last Mauritian dodo, in 1844, great auks were exterminated, and in 1899, the passenger pigeon was exterminated. Today we will tell you about their tragic fate...

Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an extinct bird of the pigeon family.

Until the 19th century, it was one of the most common birds on Earth, total which were estimated at 3-5 billion individuals.

Body length passenger pigeon was 35-40 cm, wing length - about 20 cm, body weight 250-340 grams, head and lower back grey-gray, back brownish, chest reddish. The eyes are scarlet.

Female Passenger Pigeon. Drawing from 1920

The passenger pigeon was common in the deciduous forests of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, from southern and central Canada to North Carolina, wintered in the southern United States, and kept in huge flocks, for example, a nesting colony of pigeons in Wisconsin occupied all the trees in the forest over an area of ​​2200 km² , and the total number of the colony was estimated at 160 million individuals; there were often up to hundreds of nests on one tree! But during the season, a pair of passenger pigeons hatched only one chick.

The decline in the passenger pigeon population occurred gradually from 1800 to 1870, and a catastrophic decline in the number of birds occurred from 1870 to 1890.

Martha, the last passenger pigeon.

The extinction of the passenger pigeon occurred due to the influence of many factors, the main of which was poaching, as well as massive deforestation.

The last mass nesting was observed in 1883, the last time a passenger pigeon was found in the wild was in 1900 in Ohio, USA.

The Last Dove, Martha ( Martha), died in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden (USA) on September 1, 1914.

Great auk (Pinguinus impennis) is a large flightless bird of the auk family, which became extinct in the mid-19th century.

She was the only modern representative of the genus Pinguinus, which previously included the Atlantic auk.

Stuffed Great Auk, Leipzig

The Great Auk breeds primarily on rocky, isolated islands, which are very rare in nature for large bird nesting sites.

In search of food, great auks spent most of their time in the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean, covering New England, part of Spain, eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain. The great auk's colonies extended along the entire North Atlantic, from the Baffin Sea to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

This area also included Iceland, Norway and the British Isles. The great auk created its nesting colonies mainly on rocky islands with gently sloping coastlines, which allowed it to easily reach the sea.

The great auk reached from 75 to 85 cm in length and weighed about 5 kg. Despite its short wings, the flightless great auk swam perfectly in the water and hunted successfully.

Great auk fed various types fish, including American herring and capelin, as well as crustaceans. Despite the fact that the great auk was an excellent swimmer in the water, it looked very clumsy on land.

The only known illustration of a living great auk,
painted by Ole Vorm in the Faroe Islands

The Great Auk walked at slow paces, using its wings to leap onto steep slopes and lumber awkwardly when running short distances.

The great auk's natural predators included killer whale, polar bear, and white-tailed eagle.

The ability to fly, lost in the process of evolution, awkwardness on land and trust in people made the great auk a rather vulnerable bird, so it was not difficult to get it. People hunted the great auk solely for its meat and feathers, as well as for making stuffed animals for private collections and museums.

The life expectancy of these birds was, as some researchers believe, from 20 to 25 years.

The great auk has been known to people for over 100,000 years. It was an important source of food and a symbol of the many Indian cultures that existed with it. Native Americans who lived near great auk nesting sites valued the birds for their tasty meat and revered them as an important symbol. This veneration is evidenced by images of the great auk found on bone necklaces.

Many people from ancient maritime cultures were buried with the remains of the great auk. A man buried in the Maritime Archaic cave near the city of Port au Choix on the island of Newfoundland 2000 BC. BC, was found surrounded by more than two hundred great auk beaks, which archaeologists believe were part of a costume made from its skin and head.

Nearly half of the bird bones found in graves at the site belonged to the great auk, which archaeologists believe was of great cultural significance to the people of the ancient maritime culture.

Due to people hunting the bird for its meat, fluff, and use as bait, the number of great auks began to decline significantly by the middle of the 16th century. Realizing that the great auk was on the verge of extinction, scientists decided to include it in the list of protected birds, but this was not enough to save the species. The growing rarity of the bird has increased the already strong interest of European museums and private collectors in obtaining stuffed animals and eggs, thereby ruining the last attempt to preserve the great auk.

The last sighting of the great auk occurred on July 3, 1844, in the area of ​​the Icelandic island of Elday, although this date remains controversial, as reports began to come of individual sightings and even the capture of some individuals. According to some ornithologists, the last sighting of the great auk occurred in 1852, resulting in a single specimen observed on the Great Bank of Newfoundland.

The great auk became the first European and American bird to be completely destroyed by humans. In memory of the first loss of its continent, the journal of the American Ornithological Society is named " The Auk" ("Auk").

The Basques called the great auk " arponaz", which meant “spear beak.”

In Old French the bird was called a bird " apponatz", and the Spanish and Portuguese sailors called it “ pingüinos."

The Norwegians called the great auk " geirfugl"- “spear bird”. From this name come the common English names of the bird - “ garefowl" or " gairfowl".

The Eskimos called the great auk " isarukitsck" –"small wing"

The Welsh called this species " pingwen"- “white head”.

European sailors used auks as a beacon to navigate the waters of the North Atlantic. The presence of great auks in northern waters indicated that the Great Bank of Newfoundland was nearby.

Before the advent of humans, the bird's population in the great auk's nesting areas was estimated to be in the millions, but this figure is still disputed.

The great auk has been hunted for its meat, eggs and down since at least the 8th century.

Stuffed animal, skeleton and replica of a great auk egg in the Senckenberg Museum

By the middle of the 16th century, almost all breeding colonies that were located in the European part of the Atlantic Ocean were destroyed.

In 1553, the great auk received its first official protection, and in 1794 Great Britain banned the killing of birds for their down and eggs.

In St. John's, those who violated this law were publicly flogged, but the great auk was still allowed to be used as bait.

In addition, stuffed great auks and eggs were highly prized among wealthy Europeans, who wasted no time in adding to their collection of animals.

The last great auks seen in the British Isles were caught and killed on the islands of Stac an Armin and St Kilda in Scotland in July 1840.

The last colony of great auks was discovered on the Icelandic island of Geirfuglasker (“S great auk feces» ). This volcanic island, surrounded by inaccessible cliffs, was a refuge for the Great Auk until an earthquake occurred in 1830 and the island was completely destroyed. Great auks migrated to nearby Eldie Island, and when the colony was discovered in 1835, there were only about fifty birds. Museums wanting stuffed great auks quickly began exterminating the birds.

The last pair found near the hatching egg was killed by Jon Brandson and Sigurdur Isleifson on July 3, 1844.

In 1852, a sighting of a living specimen on the Grand Bank of Newfoundland was reported and was officially recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources(IUCN).

Currently, museum collections around the world contain 78 stuffed auks, 75 eggs and 24 complete skeletons of the great auk.

A.A. Kazdym

Bibliography

1. Vinokurov A. A. Rare and endangered animals. Birds / edited by Academician V. E. Sokolov. M.: “Higher School”, 1992
2. Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Cokinos Christopher Hope is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds. Warner Books, 2000
3. Crofford Emily Gone Forever: The Great Auk. Crestwood House, 1989
4. Fuller Errol The Great Auk. Privately Published, 1999
5. Schmadel, Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition. B., Heidelberg, N. Y.: Springer, 2003

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The last pair of Great Auks to nest was killed in 1844 on the island of Eldi off the coast of Iceland. The species was destroyed by hunters and collectors.

   Squad - Charadriiformes
   Family - Auks
   Genus/Species - Pinguinus impennis

   Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Length: 70-80 cm.
Beak length: 7-98 mm.
Weight: about 5 kg.

REPRODUCTION
Nesting period: most likely from May to mid-July.
Number of eggs: 1.
Hatching: about 44 days.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: They lived in small flocks and, during the nesting period, in large colonies.
Food: fish.
Sounds: during mating there is a quiet whining and wheezing.
Lifespan: no data.

RELATED SPECIES
The great auk's closest relative was Pinguinus alfrednewtoni. Of the 22 species of auks that have survived to this day, the closest relative of the great auk is the great auk (Alca torda).

   The great auk was an easy prey because it could not fly. Therefore, people have hunted it en masse for centuries for meat and fat. The bird was on the verge of destruction already in the 18th century, when traders in feathers and meat discovered it as a wonderful “supplier” of these goods.

FOOD

   The Great Auk spends most of its time in water, so its food consisted of fish and various marine invertebrates.
   Like other members of the family, under water the great auk most likely rowed with its legs, which had swimming membranes, and slightly opened its wings. During underwater hunting, the legs also served as a rudder, and the great auk rose to the surface with the help of short but very strong wings.

LIFESTYLE

   The great auk was the largest representative of the auk family. It reached the size of a goose and weighed about 5 times more than modern auks. During development, its wings shrank and the bird lost the ability to fly. The great auk's legs were set far back at the end of its body, so it was an excellent swimmer, but moved very clumsily on land. As a bird that does not fly, it was threatened by predators and fishing, for which the great auk was an available source of meat. Probably, its lifestyle did not differ from the lifestyle of modern representatives of this family, for example, the auk. Meat traders began hunting these birds back in 1590. The systematic extermination of great auks began at the end of the eighteenth century. Ships supplying meat for the Napoleonic army were constantly sailing to the Icelandic islands.

REPRODUCTION

   The Great Auk was a rather silent bird. Only during the nesting season, when the birds were looking for partners and defending their nesting sites, great auks produced loud squeaking and hoarse sounds. Great auks nested from May to mid-July on small, remote islands, choosing rocks and cliffs off the coast. The breeding colonies of these birds were numerous, and great auks probably shared them with other species of seabirds. The females laid one large egg, which was incubated by a female and a male. They held the egg between their legs and warmed it with thick down (as penguins do).
   The chick hatched forty-four days after the start of incubation. The newborn chick was covered with thick down, which protected it from the cold. Both the female and the male raised the chick. When the fluff gave way to feathers, the chick went to the water.

LOCATION

   The great auk spent most of its life at sea, mainly in the cold regions of the Atlantic.
   Large populations lived in the shallow waters of Grant Bank near the southern coast of Newfoundland and in the area of ​​rocky islands near Iceland at its southern edge, where there were many fish. Although the bird could not fly, it led a nomadic life. Auk bones have been found south of its range in Florida, Gibraltar and Italy.
  

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

• In 1971, the Icelandic Museum of Natural History paid a record sum of 9 thousand pounds for a stuffed auk.
• The names of the killers of the last pair of great auks are known: Jon Bradsson, Sigurd Ilefsson and Kstil Kentilsson.
• Archaeological excavations near human habitation suggest that people hunted great auks as early as 8,000 years ago.
• In the 18th century, hunting acquired special proportions. Information has been preserved that 100,000 eggs were collected per day, and boats left the hunting grounds filled to the brim with the carcasses of dead great auks.

  

comparison of EGGS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF AGUEMS

   Great Auk Egg: light, greenish-blue with brown spots, it was of considerable size. The female laid a single egg, the size of a goose, directly on a bare rock shelf from May to July.
   Auk (Alca torda) egg: May be various colors, most often brown, but can also be cream, turquoise or white with chocolate specks. The female auk lays a single oval egg directly on a rocky ledge.
   Little auk egg (Alle alle): light, greenish-blue with light brown spots. The female lays eggs from late May to early July in rock crevices. Compared to the female's small body, the egg is quite large and is incubated by both birds.
- Range of the Great Auk
WHEN AND WHERE THE LOT LIVED
The bird lived in the cold regions of the North Atlantic and nested on the uninhabited islands of this region, especially Fans Island off the coast of Newfoundland. In addition, great auks lived off the coasts of Iceland, the British Isles and Scandinavia. Most likely, they also nested on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. In prehistoric times, great auks lived further south. Their bones have been discovered in Florida and the Mediterranean region.