Overview
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a large, flightless seabird that once inhabited the North Atlantic. It was the largest member of the auk family and spent most of its life at sea. Although superficially similar in body plan to southern hemisphere penguins, it belonged to a different family and evolved in the northern oceans.
Appearance and behaviour
The species had black upperparts and white underparts, with a distinctive white patch on the chest and abdomen. Its wings were very short and flattened into paddle-like stubs that made flight impossible but enabled powerful underwater propulsion. On land it stood upright and measured roughly three-quarters of a metre tall. As a skilled swimmer it hunted fish and other marine prey beneath the surface.
- large bird
- could not fly
- mostly in the water
- like a duck in its swimming habits
- white feathers on its chest and abdomen
Distribution and life history
Great auks formed dense breeding colonies on low, rocky islands across the North Atlantic. Their known range extended from eastern Canada and the North American coast to islands near Canada and across to Norway and other northern shores. In summer they gathered ashore to nest; females typically laid a single egg on bare rock and both parents invested heavily in the chick. In winter some individuals ranged southward, recorded as far as Florida and southern Spain.
Human interactions and extinction
People exploited great auks extensively for their meat and eggs, and for valuable down and feathers used in clothing and bedding. They were easy to capture on land and at their colonies, which made them vulnerable to large-scale hunting. Overexploitation reduced their numbers faster than the birds could reproduce. The last documented breeding pair was killed on 3 June 1844 on an Icelandic island; after that date the species disappeared from the wild and became extinct.
- Hunted for meat and feathers
- Vulnerable because colonies were concentrated and accessible
- Last known individuals killed in 1844
Legacy and notable facts
The great auk left a large cultural and scientific legacy. Dozens of museum specimens, skins, bones and preserved eggs survive and are important to researchers and the public. The word "penguin" is thought to derive from a Celtic term once used for the great auk; early sailors applied the same name to the superficially similar birds they later encountered in the southern hemisphere. Though often compared to penguins in appearance, the great auk was an auk, not a penguin, and its extinction remains a widely cited example of the impact of unregulated human hunting on a regional species.
For further reading and images see resources indexed here: penguins comparison, etymology of 'penguin', and regional accounts of the species at North Atlantic islands.