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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 15 cm (6 in) long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting.
Auks are pelagic birds, spending the majority of their adult lives on the open sea and going ashore only for breeding, although some species, such as the common guillemot, spend a great part of the year defending their nesting spot from others. Auks are monogamous, and tend to form lifelong pairs.
In 1850 he was elected Senior President of the Royal Medical Society. He continued his egg collections, making trips to Orkney and Shetland in 1848. He wrote on the birds of the Faeroes and contributed to Sir William Jardine's "Contributions to Ornithology for 1850". He moved back to London and remained until 1853, studying the great auk. [2]
It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (Pinguinus impennis). [4] Historically, it has also been known as "auk", [5] "razor-billed auk" [6] and "lesser auk". [7] Razorbills are primarily black with a white underside. The male and female are identical in plumage; however, males are generally larger than females.
Pinguinus alfrednewtoni is an extinct species of auk related to the great auk known from fossils that were discovered in the Pliocene Yorktown Formation of North Carolina.Like the great auk, it was a large flightless diving bird that used its wings to propel itself forward underwater.
Targeted for their coveted skins, eggs, and down, hunters took advantage of the great auk's breeding season, when pairs nested in large colonies on rocky islands. [22] It was much more difficult to hunt when not breeding, as birds were less concentrated and spent most of their time in frigid waters, where they were swift and adept swimmers.
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These species, together with the razorbill, little auk and the extinct great auk make up the tribe Alcini. This arrangement was originally based on analyses of auk morphology and ecology. [7] The official common name for this species is Common Murre according to the IOC World Bird List, Version 11.2.