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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.
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.
The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Around the same time, nations such as Great Britain began to realize that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but despite that the great auk were still hunted.
The wingspan of the great potoo and the oilbird can be more than 1 m (3.3 ft), the largest of the order. [71] [72] The largest species of the nightjar family, the great eared nightjar (Eurostopodus macrotis) of East Asia, is of smaller proportions. Great eared nightjars can reach 150 g (0.33 lb) in weight and 41 cm (16 in) in height. [73]
Since its inaugural exhibition at the Cornell lab of Ornithology in 2008 the Lost Birds have been presented at a wide range of venues including the gardens of the Smithsonian Institution. The Lost Bird Project was the subject of a documentary film produced by Middlemarch films in 2011. In addition to his environmentally focused work, McGrain ...
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The great auk was later included, among other endangered and extinct animals, in a report by Lucas assessing representation of the animals in the collection of the National Museum. He also decried the mass death of animals from manmade causes and argued for protective measures to prevent extinction within the report.