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The Extinct Great Auk

Great Auk, ? K. ??ause, 1899

The Great Auk inhabited the rocky coasts and islands of the North Atlantic from Virginia, Scotland, Shetland and Ireland to Greenland and Iceland, almost to the Arctic Circle. 

 

 
Great Auk

 

 
Great Auk

 

Related to puffins and albatross the Great Auk was also known as Garefowl and Penguin

 

 
Great Auk, Alfred Specht

Henrik Gronvold

 
Great Auk, Archibald Thorburn

 Archibald Thorburn

 

 
Great Auk and Egg

Natural History Museum

 
Great Auk, F. Specht

  F. Specht

 

 

Great Auk Egg

The Great Auk's egg was almost 12 centimeters in length.  A 17" screen set at 800 x 600 pixels resolution should approximate actual size.

One hundred years ago almost one hundred specimens of the Great Auk's eggs were known to exist and were sold to enthusiastic collectors for as much as £300.

 

 

 

John James Audubon

The Flightless Great Auk was hunted for food and its down and became extinct by the mid 1800s.

Visit the Extinct Birds Gallery

 

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