extinct bird of the world

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Contents

ArticlesChoiseul Pigeon 1

Great Auk 3

Hawaiian Rail 16

Hawai€i €€€• 19

Huia 21

Kangaroo Island Emu 35

K‚ma€o 38

Labrador Duck 40

Laughing Owl 43

Laysan Rail 48

Lord Howe Swamphen 52

New Zealand Quail 54

Passenger Pigeon 56

Seychelles Parakeet 67

Stephens Island Wren 69

ReferencesArticle Sources and Contributors 76Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 78

Article LicensesLicense 80


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Choiseul Pigeon 1

Choiseul Pigeon

Choiseul Pigeon

Conservation status

Extinct (1904) (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

Genus: MicrogouraRothschild, 1904

Species: M. meekiBinomial name

Microgoura meeki

(Rothschild, 1904)

The Choiseul Pigeon, also known as the Choiseul Crested Pigeon, ( Microgoura meeki) is a presumedly extinct

pigeon which was only known on the Solomon island of Choiseul in the Pacific. This species was first described byWalter Rothschild in 1904 and named in honour of Albert Stewart Meek. The Choiseul islanders called that specieskukuru-ni-lua which means ground pigeon. There is a painting by John Gerrard Keulemans in the American Museum

of Natural History in New York City.[1][2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Museum_of_Natural_Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Museum_of_Natural_Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gerrard_Keulemanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacifichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Choiseul_Provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Solomon_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pigeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Rothschild%2C_2nd_Baron_Rothschildhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binomial_nomenclaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Rothschild%2C_2nd_Baron_Rothschildhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dovehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbiformeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chordatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biological_classificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AStatus_iucn3.1_EX.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conservation_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AMicrogoura_meeki.jpg


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Choiseul Pigeon 2

Description

Illustration by J. G. Keulemans

This species had a length of approximately 30 cm, roughly the size of a

chicken. On the top of the head was a dark bluish crest similar to theCrowned Pigeons of Papua New Guinea. The forehead and the front of

the face were black, the rest of the head was sparsely pinnate with a

reddish hue. Mantle and breast had a dark blueish colour with a browntinge on the lower back.

The wings and the backside were olive brown. The tail was dark brownwith a purple hue. The abdomen had a chestnut coloured tone. The

upper side of the bill was black, the lower side red. The legs were

purplish red. It is not known whether there were differences betweenthe sexes.

Extinction

In 1904 six specimens were shot by Albert Stewart Meek, a birdcollector for Lord Walter Rothschild and brought to the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum at Tring. An egg was

also collected. He did not find the Choiseul Pigeon in Bougainville Island, but was informed of its presence on the

adjacent islands of Santa Isabel and Malaita.[3]

Because of Rothschild's financial difficulties, five skins were sold to the American Museum of Natural History. On

further expeditions in 1927 and 1929, no specimens were found. It is assumed that the Choiseul Pigeon was not only

a victim of human hunters, but also fell victim of destruction brought by non-native feral cats and dogs that wereintroduced to the islands.[3]

References[1] BirdLife International (2012). " Microgoura meeki" (http:/ / www. iucnredlist. org/ apps/ redlist/ details/ 106002625). IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. . Retrieved 16 July 2012.[2][2] Greenway, J. C. (1967) Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. Dover Publications, New York.[3] del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1997) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx

Edicions. ISBN 84-87334-22-9

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Naturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106002625http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BirdLife_Internationalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malaitahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Isabel_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bougainville_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Egg_%28biology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Rothschild_Zoological_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Rothschild%2C_2nd_Baron_Rothschildhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albert_Stewart_Meekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papua_New_Guineahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chickenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AChoiseul_Crested_Pigeon.jpg


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Great Auk 3

Great Auk

Great Auk

Specimen no. 8 and replica egg in Kelvingrove, Glasgow

Conservation status

Extinct (1852) (IUCN 3.1)[1]


Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: AvesOrder: Charadriiformes

Family: Alcidae

Genus: € PinguinusBonnaterre, 1791

Species: € P. impennis

Binomial name

Pinguinus impennis

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Approximate range (in blue) with known breeding sites indicated by yellow marks[2][3]

Synonyms

• Alca impennis Linnaeus, 1758• Plautus impennis Br‚nnich, 1772• Pingouin impennis Buffon, 1817

• Alca borealis Forster, 1817• Chenalopex impennis Vieillot, 1818

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synonym_%28taxonomy%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GreatAukMap.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carolus_Linnaeushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binomial_nomenclaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pierre_Joseph_Bonnaterrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charadriiformeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chordatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biological_classificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AStatus_iucn3.1_EX.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conservation_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glasgowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kelvingrove_Art_Gallery_and_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Great_Auk_%28Pinguinis_impennis%29_specimen%2C_Kelvingrove%2C_Glasgow_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1108249.jpg


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Great Auk 4

• Alca major Boie, 1822• Mataeoptera impennis Gloger, 1842

The Great Auk ( Pinguinus impennis) was a large, flightless bird of the alcid family that became extinct in the

mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included

one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean region. 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 asnorthern Spain through Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain.

The Great Auk was 75 to 85 centimetres (unknown operator: u'[' to unknown operator: u'[' in) tall and weighedaround 5 kilograms ( lb), making it the largest member of the alcid family. 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 had 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 centimetres ( in) long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the auk was a powerful

swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Its favourite prey were fish, including Atlantic Menhaden and Capelin, and

crustaceans. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. Great Auk pairs mated for life. They nested inextremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. The egg was white with variable brown streaking.

Both parents incubated for about six weeks before their young hatched. The young auks left the nest site after two or

three weeks and the parents continued to care for them.

Humans had hunted the Great Auk for more than 100,000 years. It was an important part of many Native American

cultures which coexisted with the bird, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic peoplewere 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 whichlargely 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 beenough. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins andeggs of the bird. On 3 July 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 individualsbeing seen or caught. A record of a bird in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of the species. The

Great Auk is mentioned in a number of novels and the scientific journal of the American Ornithologists' Union is

named The Auk in honour of this bird.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Ornithologists%27_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eldeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maritime_Archaichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crustaceanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Capelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_Menhadenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Atlantichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auk


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Great Auk 5

Taxonomy and evolution

Stuffed Great Auk no. 44, Leipzig

Analysis of mtDNA sequences has confirmed morphological and

biogeographical studies suggesting that the Razorbill is the Great Auk's closestliving relative.[4] The Great Auk was also closely related to the Little Auk

(Dovekie), which underwent a radically different evolution compared to

Pinguinus. Due to its outward similarity to the Razorbill (apart fromflightlessness and size), the Great Auk was often placed in the genus Alca,

following Linnaeus.

The fossil record (especially the sister species Pinguinus alfrednewtoni) and

molecular evidence show that the three genera, while closely related, divergedsoon after their common ancestor, a bird probably similar to a stout Xantus's

Murrelet, had spread to the coasts of the Atlantic. By that time the murres, or

Atlantic guillemots, had apparently already split from the other Atlantic alcids.Razorbill-like birds were common in the Atlantic during the Pliocene, but the

evolution of the Little Auk is sparsely documented.[4]

The molecular data arecompatible with either view, but the weight of evidence suggests placing theGreat Auk in a distinct genus.[4] Some ornithologists still feel it is more

appropriate to retain the species in the genus Alca, however.[5] The Great Auk

was not closely related to the other extinct genera of flightless alcids, Mancalla, Praemancalla, and Alcodes.[6]

Pinguinus alfrednewtoni was a larger and also flightless member of the genus Pinguinus that lived during the Early

Pliocene.[7] Known from bones found in the Yorktown Formation of the Lee Creek Mine in North Carolina, it is

believed to have split along with the Great Auk from a common ancestor. Pinguinus alfrednewtoni lived in thewestern Atlantic while the Great Auk lived in the eastern Atlantic, but after the former died out after the Pliocene,

the Great Auk replaced it.[7]

Etymology

The Great Auk was one of the 4400 animal species originally described by Carolus Linnaeus in his 18th-century

work, Systema Naturae, in which it was named Alca impennis.[8] The name Alca is a Latin derivative of theScandinavian word for Razorbills and their relatives.[9] The species was not placed in its own genus, Pinguinus, until

1791.[10] The generic name is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese name for the species, and the specific nameimpennis is from Latin and refers to the lack of flight feathers or pennae.[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flight_featherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Latinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Specific_name_%28zoology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Genushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Systema_Naturaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carolus_Linnaeushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Carolinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yorktown_Formationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pliocenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alcodeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Praemancallahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancallahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pliocenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guillemothttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xantus%27s_Murrelethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xantus%27s_Murrelethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sister_specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Razorbillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biogeographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morphology_%28biology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DNA_sequencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MtDNAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ARiesenalk.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leipzig


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Great Auk 6

Only known illustration of a GreatAuk drawn from life, Ole Worm's pet

received from the Faroe Islands

The Basque name for the Great Auk is arponaz, meaning "spearbill". Its early

French name was apponatz. The Norse called the Great Auk geirfugl, which

means "spearbird". This has led to an alternative English common name for thebird, "garefowl" or "gairfowl".[11] The Inuit name for the Great Auk wasisarukitsck , which meant "little wing".[12] The word "Penguin" first appears in

the 16th century as a synonym for "Great Auk."[13]

It may be derived from theWelsh pen gwyn "white head", although the etymology is debated. When

European explorers discovered what are today known as penguins in the

Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the Great Auk andnamed them after this bird, although they are not related.[14]

Description

Summer (standing) and winter(swimming) plumage. By John

Gerrard Keulemans.

Standing about 75 to 85 centimetres (unknown operator: u'[' to unknownoperator: u'[' in) tall and weighing around 5 kilograms ( lb) as adult birds,[15]

the flightless Great Auk was the largest of both its family and the order

Charadriiformes. The auks that lived further north averaged larger in size thanthe more southerly members of the species.[6] Males and females were similar in

plumage, although there is evidence for differences in size, particularly in the billand femur length.[16][17][18] The back was primarily a glossy black, while thestomach was white. The neck and legs were short, and the head and wings

small.[19] The auk appeared chubby due to a thick layer of fat necessary for

warmth.[20] During summer, the Great Auk developed a wide white eye patchover the eye, which had a hazel or chestnut iris. [21][22] During winter the auk

molted and lost this eye patch, which was replaced with a wide white band and a

gray line of feathers which stretched from the eye to the ear.[16] During thesummer, the auk's chin and throat were blackish-brown, while the inside of the

mouth was yellow.[17] During the winter, the throat became white.[16] Some

individuals had grey plumage on their flanks, but the purpose of this isunknown.[23] The bill was large at 11 centimetres ( in) long and curved downwards at the top; [20] the bill also had

deep white grooves in both the upper and lower mandibles, up to seven on the upper mandible and twelve on thelower mandible in summer, though there were fewer in winter. [24][25] The wings were only 15 centimetres ( in) in

length and the longest wing feathers were only 10 centimetres ( in) long.[20] Its feet and short claws were black while

the webbed skin between the toes was brownish black.[25] The legs were far back on the bird's body, which gave itpowerful swimming and diving abilities.[26]

Hatchlings were gray and downy, but their exact appearance is unknown, since no skins exist today. [25] Juvenile

birds had less prominent grooves in their beaks and had mottled white and black necks,[27] while the eye spot found

in adults was not present; instead, a gray line ran through the eyes (which still had the white eye ring) to just belowthe ears.[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charadriiformeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AKeulemans-GreatAuk.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gerrard_Keulemanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gerrard_Keulemanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Convergent_evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penguinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Welsh_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norsemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basque_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWormius%27_Great_Auk.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ole_Worm


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Great Auk 7

The auk's calls included low croaking and a hoarse scream. A captive auk was observed making a gurgling noisewhen anxious. It is not known what its other vocalizations were like, but it is believed that they were similar to those

of the Razorbill, only louder and deeper.[28]

Distribution and habitat

Stac an Armin, St. Kilda, Scotland, where the

Great Auk used to breed

The Great Auk was found in the cold North Atlantic coastal watersalong the coasts of Canada, the northeastern United States, Norway,

Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Great Britain, France,and northern Spain.[29] The Great Auk left the North Atlantic waters

for land only in order to breed, even roosting at sea when notbreeding.[24][30] The rookeries of the Great Auk were found from

Baffin Bay down to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, across the far northern

Atlantic, including Iceland, and in Norway and the British Isles inEurope.[24][31][32] For their nesting colonies the Great Auks required

rocky islands with sloping shorelines that provided access to the

seashore.[26] These were very limiting requirements and it is believedthat the Great Auk never had more than 20 breeding colonies. [26]

Additionally, the nesting sites needed to be close to rich feeding areas and be far enough from the mainland to

discourage visitation by humans and Polar Bears.[33] Only six breeding colonies are known: Papa Westray in theOrkney Islands, St. Kilda Island off Scotland, Grimsey Island and Eldey Island near Iceland, Funk Island[34] near

Newfoundland, and the Bird Rocks (Rochers-aux-Oiseaux) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. [26] Records suggest that this

species may have bred on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.[26] By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the breeding rangeof the Great Auk was restricted to Funk Island, Grimsey Island, Eldey Island, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and St. Kilda

Island.[31] Funk Island was the largest known breeding colony.[35]

The Great Auk migrated north and south away from the breeding colonies after the chicks fledged and tended to gosouthward during late fall and winter.[36] It was common in the Grand Banks.[33] Its bones have been found as farsouth as Florida, where it may have occurred during four isolated time periods: around 1000 BC, 1000 AD, the 15th

century, and the 17th century.[37][38] (It has been suggested, however, that some of the bones discovered in Florida

may be the result of aboriginal trading.)[36] The Great Auk typically did not go further south than Massachusetts Bayin the winter.[36]

Ecology and behavior

Great Auks by John James Audubon, from The Birds of America

The Great Auk was never observed and described by modern scientists

during its existence, and is only known from the accounts of laymen,such as sailors, so its behaviour is therefore not well known and hard to

reconstruct. However, much can also be inferred from its close, livingrelative, the Razorbill, as well as from remaining soft tissue.[39]

Great Auks walked slowly and sometimes used their wings to helpthem traverse rough terrain.[27] When they did run, it was awkwardly

and with short steps in a straight line.[30] They had few natural

predators, mainly large marine mammals, such as the Orca, andWhite-tailed Eagles.[30] Polar bears preyed on nesting colonies of the

auk.[40] This species had no innate fear of human beings, and their flightlessness and awkwardness on land

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-tailed_Eaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orcahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marine_mammalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3APinguinusImpennus.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Birds_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Birds_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_James_Audubonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massachusetts_Bayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Floridahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Bankshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cape_Codhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gulf_of_St._Lawrencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magdalen_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Newfoundland_and_Labradorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Funk_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eldey_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gr%C3%ADmseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St_Kilda%2C_Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orkney_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papa_Westrayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polar_Bearhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Isleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gulf_of_St._Lawrencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baffin_Bayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Faroe_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Icelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greenlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Atlantichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AStac_an_Armin_and_Boreray.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Kilda%2C_Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stac_an_Arminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Razorbill


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Great Auk 8

compounded their vulnerability. They were hunted for food, feathers, and as specimens for museums and privatecollections.[1] Great Auks reacted to noises, but were rarely scared by the sight of something. [41] The auks used their

bills aggressively both in the dense nesting sites and when threatened or captured by humans. [30] These birds are

believed to have had a life span of about 20 to 25 years.[42] During the winter, the Great Auk migrated south either inpairs or in small groups, and never with the entire nesting colony.[43]

The Great Auk was generally an excellent swimmer, using its wings to propel itself underwater.[27]

Whileswimming, the head was held up but the neck was drawn in. [30] This species was capable of banking, veering, and

turning underwater.[43] The Great Auk was known to dive to depths of 76 metres ( ft) and it has been claimed that the

species was able to dive to depths of 1 kilometre ( ft).[44] It could also hold its breath for 15 minutes, longer than aseal.[43] The Great Auk was capable of accelerating under water, then shooting out of the water to land on a rocky

ledge above the ocean's surface.[43]

Diet

Great Auk eating a fish, by John Gould.

This alcid typically fed in shoaling waters which were shallower thanthose frequented by other alcids,[45] although after the breeding season

they had been sighted up to 500 kilometres ( mi) from land. [45] Theyare believed to have fed cooperatively in flocks.[45] Their main foodwas fish, usually 12 to 20 centimetres (unknown operator: u'[' to

unknown operator: u'[' in) in length and weighing 40 to 50 grams

(unknown operator: u'[' to unknown operator: u'[' oz), butoccasionally their prey was up to half the bird's own length. The bird

could on average dive up to 75 metres ( ft) for its prey with the

maximum dive depth being estimated at 130 metres ( ft); however, toconserve energy, most dives were shallower.[45] Its ability to dive this deeply reduced competition with other alcid

species. Based on remains associated with Great Auk bones found on Funk Island and on ecological and

morphological considerations, it seems that Atlantic Menhaden and Capelin were their favored prey.[46] Other fishsuggested as potential prey include lumpsuckers, Shorthorn Sculpins, cod, crustaceans, and sand lance. [44][45] The

young of the Great Auk are believed to have eaten plankton and, possibly, fish and crustaceans regurgitated by adultauks.[35][42]

Reproduction

Nesting ground with juveniles andeggs, by Keulemans

Great Auks began pairing in early and mid May.[47] They are believed to have

mated for life, although some theorize that auks could have mated outside of their pair, a trait seen in the Razorbill.[30][42] Once paired, they nested at the base

of cliffs in colonies, where they likely copulated.[20][30] Mated pairs had a socialdisplay in which they bobbed their heads, showing off their white eye patch, bill

markings, and yellow mouth.[30] These colonies were extremely crowded and

dense, with some estimates stating that there was a nesting auk for every 1 squaremetre ( sq ft) of land.[30] These colonies were very social.[30] When the colonies

included other species of alcid, the Great Auks were dominant due to their

size.[30]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3APinguinus.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Planktonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sand_lancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Codhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shorthorn_Sculpinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lumpsuckerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Capelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_Menhadenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Funk_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AAlca_Impennis_by_John_Gould.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gould


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Great Auk 9

Paintings showing variation in eggmarkings, as well as seasonal andontogenic differences in plumage,

based on museum specimens

Female Great Auks would lay only one egg each year, between late May and

early June, although they could lay a replacement egg if the first one was

lost.[43][47] In years when there was a shortage of food, the auk did not breed. [48]

A single egg was laid on bare ground up to 100 metres ( ft) from shore. [27][49]

The egg was ovate and elongate in shape, and averaged 12.4 centimetres ( in) in

length and 7.6 centimetres ( in) across at the widest point.[10][40]

The egg wasyellowish white to light ochre with a varying pattern of black, brown or greyish

spots and lines which often congregated on the large end. [27][50] It is believed

that the variation in the egg's streaks enabled the parents to recognize their egg inthe colony.[47] The pair took turns incubating the egg in an upright position for

the 39 to 44 days before the egg hatched, typically in June, although eggs couldbe present at the colonies as late as August.[40][47]

The parents also took turns feeding their chick. According to one account, the

chick was covered with grey down.[42] The young bird took only two or threeweeks to mature enough to abandon the nest and land for the water, typically

around the middle of July.[40][47] The parents cared for their young after they

fledged, and adults would be seen swimming with their young perched on theirbacks.[47] Great Auks sexually matured when they were four to seven years old.[48]

Relationship with humans

Bones of the Great Auk uncoveredby archaeologists in an ancientkitchen midden in Caithness

The Great Auk is known to have been preyed upon by Neanderthals more than

100,000 years ago, as evidenced by well-cleaned bones found by their

campfires.[29] Images believed to depict the Great Auk were also carved into thewalls of the El Pinto Cave in Spain over 35,000 years ago, [51] while cave

paintings 20,000 years old have been found in France's Grotte Cosquer.[12]

Native Americans who coexisted with the Great Auk valued it as a food sourceduring the winter and as an important symbol. Images of the Great Auk have

been found in bone necklaces.[52] A person buried at the Maritime Archaic site at

Port au Choix, Newfoundland, dating to about 2000 BC, was found surroundedby more than 200 Great Auk beaks, which are believed to have been part of a suit

made from their skins, with the heads left attached as decoration.[53] Nearly half

of the bird bones found in graves at this site were of the Great Auk, suggestingthat it had cultural significance for the Maritime Archaic people.[54] The extinct

Beothuks of Newfoundland made pudding out of the auk's eggs.[42]

The Dorset Eskimos also hunted the species,while the Saqqaq in Greenland overhunted the species, causing a local reduction in range.[54]

Later, European sailors used the auks as a navigational beacon, as the presence of these birds signaled that the Grand

Banks of Newfoundland were near.[12]

This species is estimated to have had a maximum population in the millions. [42] The Great Auk was hunted on a

significant scale for food, eggs, and its down feathers from at least the 8th century. Prior to that, hunting by local

natives can be documented from Late Stone Age Scandinavia and eastern North America,[55] as well as from early5th century Labrador, where the bird seems to have occurred only as a straggler.[56] Early explorers, including

Jacques Cartier and numerous ships attempting to find gold on Baffin Island, were not provisioned with food for the journey home, and therefore used this species as both a convenient food source and bait for fishing.[57] Some of the

later vessels anchored next to a colony and ran out planks to the land. The sailors then herded hundreds of these auks

onto the ships, where they were then slaughtered.[58] Some authors have questioned whether this hunting method

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baffin_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baffin_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jacques_Cartierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Labradorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scandinaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Down_featherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Banks_of_Newfoundlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Banks_of_Newfoundlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saqqaq_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dorset_Eskimohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beothukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Newfoundland_and_Labradorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Port_au_Choixhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maritime_Archaichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grotte_Cosquerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Pinto_Cavehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neanderthalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AAukBones.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caithnesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AGreat_Auk_variation.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ontogenic


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Great Auk 10

actually occurred successfully.[54] Great Auk eggs were also a valued food source, as the eggs were three times thesize of a murre's and had a large yolk.[54] These sailors also introduced rats onto the islands.[50]

Extinction

Specimen no. 3 in Brussels, whichcould be one of the two last birds

killed on Eldey in 1844

The Little Ice Age may have reduced the population of the Great Auk by

exposing more of their breeding islands to predation by Polar Bears, but massiveexploitation for their down drastically reduced the population.[48] By themid-16th century, the nesting colonies along the European side of the Atlantic

were nearly all eliminated by humans killing this bird for its down, which was

used to make pillows.[59] In 1553, the auk received its first official protection,and in 1794 Great Britain banned the killing of this species for its feathers. [60] In

St. John's, individuals violating a 1775 law banning hunting the Great Auk for itsfeathers or eggs were publicly flogged, though hunting for use as fishing bait was

still permitted.[54] On the North American side, eider down was initially

preferred, but once the eiders were nearly driven to extinction in the 1770s, down

collectors switched to the auk at the same time that hunting for food, fishing bait,and oil decreased.[54][61] The Great Auk had disappeared from Funk Island by

1800, and an account by Aaron Thomas of HMS Boston from 1794 describedhow the bird had been systematically slaughtered until then:

If you come for their Feathers you do not give yourself the trouble of killing them, but lay hold of one and

pluck the best of the Feathers. You then turn the poor Penguin adrift, with his skin half naked and torn off, to

perish at his leasure. This is not a very humane method but it is the common practize. While you abide on thisisland you are in the constant practize of horrid cruelties for you not only skin them Alive, but you burn them

Alive also to cook their Bodies with. You take a kettle with you into which you put a Penguin or two, you

kindle a fire under it, and this fire is absolutely made of the unfortunate Penguins themselves. Their bodysbeing oily soon produce a Flame; there is no wood on the island.[62]

With its increasing rarity, specimens of the Great Auk and its eggs became collectible and highly prized by rich

Europeans, and the loss of a large number of its eggs to collection contributed to the demise of the species. Eggers,

individuals who visited the nesting sites of the Great Auk to collect their eggs, quickly realized that the birds did notall lay their eggs on the same day, so they could make return visits to the same breeding colony. Eggers only

collected eggs without embryos growing inside of them and typically discarded the eggs with embryos.[40]

It was on the islet of Stac an Armin, St Kilda, Scotland, in July 1840, that the last Great Auk seen in the British Isles

was caught and killed.[63] Three men from St Kilda caught a single "garefowl", noticing its little wings and the large

white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days, until a large storm arose. Believing that the aukwas a witch and the cause of the storm, they then killed it by beating it with a stick. [64][65] It is the only British bird

made extinct in historic times.[66]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St_Kilda%2C_Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stac_an_Arminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Boston_%281762%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eiderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._John%27s%2C_Newfoundland_and_Labradorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Ice_Agehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AGrote_alk_-KBIN-.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brusselshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murre


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Great Auk 11

Photograph of Eldey, last refuge of the Great Auk

The last colony of Great Auks lived on Geirfuglasker (the "Great Auk

Rock") off Iceland. This islet was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs

which made it inaccessible to humans, but in 1830 the islet submergedafter a volcanic eruption, and the birds moved to the nearby island of

Eldey, which was accessible from a single side. When the colony was

initially discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums,desiring the skins of the auk for preservation and display, quickly

began collecting birds from the colony.[67] The last pair, found

incubating an egg, was killed there on 3 July 1844, on request from amerchant who wanted specimens, with Jƒn Brandsson and Sigur„ur

…sleifsson strangling the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashing the egg with his boot. [68] Great Auk specialist JohnWolley interviewed the two men who killed the last birds,[69] and …sleifsson described the act as follows:

The rocks were covered with blackbirds [referring to Guillemots] and there were the Geirfugles ... They

walked slowly. Jƒn Brandsson crept up with his arms open. The bird that Jƒn got went into a corner but [mine]was going to the edge of the cliff. [I] caught it close to the edge • a precipice many fathoms deep. The black

birds were flying off. I took him by the neck and he flapped his wings. He made no cry. I strangled him. [70]

A later claim of a live individual sighted in 1852 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland has been accepted by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).[1]

Specimens

Stuffed specimen no. 39, skeleton and replica eggat Senckenberg Museum

Today, 78 skins of the Great Auk remain mostly in museum

collections, along with around 75 eggs and 24 complete skeletons. Allbut four of the surviving skins are in summer plumage, and only two of

these are immature. No hatchling specimens exist. Each egg and skin

has been assigned a number by specialists.[39] While thousands of isolated bones have been collected from 19th century Funk Island to

Neolithic middens, only a small number of complete skeletonsexist.[71] Natural mummies are also known from Funk Island, and the

eyes and internal organs of the last two birds from 1844 are stored in

the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen. It is uncertain where their skinsare located today, however, but according to Errol Fuller, three are

suspected due to their connection to a specific dealer in Copenhagen;

the specimens in Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, in the Royal Belgian Institute of NaturalSciences, and the one in †bersee-Museum Bremen.[39]

Following the bird's extinction, remains of the Great Auk increased dramatically in value, and auctions of specimens

created intense interest in Victorian Britain, where 15 specimens are now located, the largest number of any

country.[39] A specimen was bought in 1971 by the Icelandic Museum of National History for the sum of ‡9000,which placed it in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive stuffed bird ever sold. [72] The price of its

eggs sometimes reached up to 11 times the amount earned by a skilled worker in a year.[73] The present whereabouts

of six of the eggs are unknown, and several other eggs have been accidentally destroyed. Two mounted skins weredestroyed in the 20th century, one in the Mainz Museum during the Second World War, and one in the Museo

Bocage, Lisbon, was destroyed by a fire in 1978.[39]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lisbonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_World_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mainzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guinness_Book_of_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victorian_erahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C3%9Cbersee-Museum_Bremenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Royal_Belgian_Institute_of_Natural_Scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Royal_Belgian_Institute_of_Natural_Scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Los_Angeles_County_Museum_of_Natural_Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Errol_Fullerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zoological_Museum%2C_Copenhagenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neolithichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Funk_Islandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AAlca_impennis_3.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Senckenberg_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCNhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Banks_of_Newfoundlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guillemotshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Wolleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Wolleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eldeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geirfuglaskerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEdley_close.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eldey


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Cultural depictions

The Great Auk is one of the more frequently referenced extinct birds in literature. It appears in many works of

children's literature.

• Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby depicts a Great Auk telling the tale of its

species' extinction.[74] (In this image [75], Kingsley's artist played with or misunderstood the words "large pair of

white spectacles", intended to mean the natural white patches on the bird's face.)• Enid Blyton's The Island of Adventure[76] features the bird's extinction, sending the protagonist on a failed search

for what he believes is a lost colony of the species.

Statue of a Great Auk.

The Great Auk is also present in a wide variety of other works of fiction.

• In his short story The Harbor Master , by Robert W. Chambers, the discoveryand attempted recovery of the last known pair of Great Auks is central to the

plot (which also involves a proto-Lovecraftian element of suspense). From thecollection In Search of the Unknown, Harper and Brothers Publishers, New

York, 1904.

• In his novel Ulysses, James Joyce mentions the bird while the novel's maincharacter is drifting into sleep. He associates the Great Auk with the mythical

roc bird as a method of formally returning the main character to a sleepy land

of fantasy and memory.[77]

• Penguin Island , a 1908 French satirical novel by the Nobel Prize winningauthor Anatole France, narrates the fictional history of a Great Auk population

that is mistakenly baptized by a nearsighted missionary.[78]

• A Great Auk is collected by fictional naturalist Stephen Maturin in the Patrick O'Brian historical novel The

Surgeon's Mate. This work also details the harvesting of a colony of auks.[79]

• The Great Auk is the subject of a novel, The Last Great Auk by Allen Eckert, which tells of the events leading to

the extinction of the Great Auk as seen from the perspective of the last one alive.• The bird also appears in Farley Mowat's Sea of Slaughter .[80]

• It is the subject of a ballet, Still Life at the Penguin Caf€ ,[81] and a song, 'A Dream too Far', in the ecological

musical Rockford's Rock Opera.[82]

• A Great Auk appears as a prized possession of Baba the Turk in Igor Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress

(libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman).

• The Great Auk is the mascot of the Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware, Sir Sandford Fleming College inOntario, and the Adelaide University Choral Society (AUCS) in Australia.[83][84][85]

• It is also the mascot of the Knowledge Masters educational competition.[86][87]

• The scientific journal of the American Ornithologists' Union is named The Auk in honour of this bird.[73]

• According to Homer Hickam's memoir, Rocket Boys, and its movie production, October Sky, the early rockets heand his friends built were ironically named "Auk".[88]

• A cigarette company, the British Great Auk Cigarettes, was named after this bird.[73]

• Walton Ford, the American painter, has featured Great Auks in two paintings: "The Witch of St. Kilda" and

"Funk Island".[89]

• The English painter and writer Errol Fuller produced "Last Stand" for his monograph on the species.[90] The Great

Auk also appeared on one stamp in a set of five depicting extinct birds issued by Cuba in 1974.[91]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cubahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Errol_Fullerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walton_Fordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=October_Skyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rocket_Boyshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homer_Hickamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Ornithologists%27_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_Mastershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adelaide_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ontariohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fleming_Collegehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claymont%2C_Delawarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Archmere_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mascothttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chester_Kallmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=W._H._Audenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Rake%27s_Progresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Igor_Stravinskyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rockford%27s_Rock_Operahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Still_Life_at_the_Penguin_Cafehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Farley_Mowathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen_Eckerthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Surgeon%27s_Matehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Surgeon%27s_Matehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_O%27Brianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Maturinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Missionaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myopiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anatole_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nobel_Prizehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penguin_Island_%28novel%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roc_%28mythology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Joycehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ulysses_%28novel%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_W._Chambershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Harbor_Masterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AGreat_Auk_monument.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Adventure_Series%23The_Island_of_Adventurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enid_Blytonhttp://www.childrensnursery.org.uk/water-babies/water-babys%20-%200094-1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Water-Babies%2C_A_Fairy_Tale_for_a_Land_Babyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Kingsley


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Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. . Retrieved 16 July 2012.[2] Grieve, Symington (1885). The Great Auk, or Garefowl: Its history, archaeology, and remains (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/

cihm_06624). Thomas C. Jack, London. .[3] Parkin, Thomas (1894). The Great Auk, or Garefowl (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ cu31924000574222). J.E. Budd, Printer. . Retrieved

2010-05-14.[4] Moum, Truls; Arnason, Ulfur & ˆrnason, Einar (2002). "Mitochondrial DNA sequence evolution and phylogeny of the Atlantic Alcidae,

including the extinct Great Auk ( Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / mbe. oxfordjournals. org/ cgi/ reprint/ 19/ 9/ 1434. pdf). Molecular Biologyand Evolution (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 19 (9): 1434 • 1439. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004206. PMID 12200471. .Retrieved 2009-05-08.

[5] Fuller, Errol (1999). The Great Auk (illustrated ed.). Southborough, Kent, UK: Privately Published. p. 401. ISBN 0-9533553-0-6.[6] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Systematics-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/

species/ 260/ articles/ systematics). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29.[7] Olson, Storrs L.; Pamela C. Rasmussen (2001). "Miocene and Pliocene Birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina" (http:/ / si-pddr. si.

edu/ dspace/ handle/ 10088/ 2006). In Ray, Clayton E.. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 90. Washington DC: SmithsonianInstitution Press. p. 279. .

[8] Linnaeus, C (1758) (in Latin). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus,differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.

. Holmiae: Laurentii Salvii. p. 130.[9] Johnsgard, Paul A. (1987). Diving Birds of North America (http:/ / digitalcommons. unl. edu/ cgi/ viewcontent. cgi?article=1011&context=bioscidivingbirds). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 265 • 266. ISBN 0-8032-2566-0. . Retrieved 11 May 2010.

[10] Gaskell, Jeremy (2000). Who Killed the Great Auk? (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=tsUzeXV_7jcC& pg=PA152& lpg=PA152& dq=egg+"Great+ Auk"). Oxford University Press (USA). p. 152. ISBN 0-19-856478-3. .

[11][11] Cokinos 2000, p. 333[12][12] Cokinos 2000, p. 314[13] "PINGOUIN : Etymologie de PINGOUIN" (http:/ / www. cnrtl. fr/ etymologie/ pingouin). Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et

Lexicales. . Retrieved 2010-01-25.[14][14] Crofford 1989, p. 10[15] Livezey, Bradley C. (1988). "Morphometrics of flightlessness in the Alcidae" (http:/ / sora. unm. edu/ sites/ default/ files/ journals/ auk/

v105n04/ p0681-p0698. pdf). The Auk (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) 105 (4): 681 • 698. . Retrieved 2009-05-08.[16][16] Crofford 1989, p. 8

[17] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Characteristics-Great Auk ( Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ characteristics). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29.(subscription required)

[18] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Measurements-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ measurements). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29.

[19][19] Crofford 1989, p. 15[20][20] Crofford 1989, p. 28[21][21] Crofford 1989, p. 9[22][22] Cokinos 2000, p. 310[23] Rothschild, Walter (1907). Extinct Birds (http:/ / www. archive. org/ download/ extinctbirdsatte00roth/ extinctbirdsatte00roth. pdf). London:

Hutchinson & Co. .[24][24] Crofford 1989, p. 29

[25] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Appearance-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/

/

bna.

birds.

cornell.

edu/

bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ appearance). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29. (subscriptionrequired)

[26][26] Cokinos 2000, p. 312[27] Morris, Reverend Francis O. (1864). A History of British Birds (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=GEkDAAAAQAAJ& pg=PA58). 6.

Groombridge and Sons, Paternoster Way, London. pp. 56 • 58. .[28] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Sounds-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/

260/ articles/ sounds). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-28.[29][29] Crofford 1989, p. 5[30] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Behavior-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/

260/ articles/ behavior). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-28. (subscription required)[31][31] Crofford 1989, p. 30[32] Meldegaard, Morten (1988). "The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis (L.) in Greenland" (http:/ / www. tandf. co. uk/ journals/ pdf/

ghbi_01_01_02. pdf). Historical Biology 1 (2): 145 • 178. doi:10.1080/08912968809386472. . Retrieved 11 May 2010.

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/ghbi_01_01_02.pdfhttp://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/ghbi_01_01_02.pdfhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/behaviorhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/behaviorhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/soundshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/soundshttp://books.google.com/?id=GEkDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_Orpen_Morrishttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/appearancehttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/appearancehttp://www.archive.org/download/extinctbirdsatte00roth/extinctbirdsatte00roth.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Rothschild%2C_2nd_Baron_Rothschildhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/measurementshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/measurementshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/characteristicshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/characteristicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Aukhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v105n04/p0681-p0698.pdfhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v105n04/p0681-p0698.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bradley_C._Livezeyhttp://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/pingouinhttp://books.google.com/?id=tsUzeXV_7jcC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=egg+%22Great+Auk%22http://books.google.com/?id=tsUzeXV_7jcC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=egg+%22Great+Auk%22http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=bioscidivingbirdshttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=bioscidivingbirdshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carolus_Linnaeushttp://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/2006http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/2006http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pamela_C._Rasmussenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Storrs_L._Olsonhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/systematicshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/systematicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Errol_Fullerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oxford_University_Presshttp://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/9/1434.pdfhttp://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000574222http://www.archive.org/details/cihm_06624http://www.archive.org/details/cihm_06624http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Naturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106003305http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BirdLife_International


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Great Auk 14

[33] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Habitat-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ habitat). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29. (subscription required)

[34] Milne, John. "Relics of the Great Auk on Funk Island," The Field , 27 March 3 April, 10, 1875.[35] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/

articles/ introduction). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-28.[36] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Migration-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/

260/ articles/ migration). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29.

[37] Weigel, Penelope Hermes (1958). "Great Auk Remains from a Florida Shell Midden" (http:/ / sora. unm. edu/ sites/ default/ files/ journals/ auk/ v075n02/ p0215-p0216. pdf). Auk (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) 75 (2): 215 • 216. doi:10.2307/4081895. . Retrieved2009-05-08.

[38] Brodkorb, Pierce (1960). "Great Auk and Common Murre from a Florida Midden" (http:/ / sora. unm. edu/ sites/ default/ files/ journals/ auk/ v077n03/ p0342-p0343. pdf). Auk (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) 77 (3): 342 • 343. doi:10.2307/4082490. . Retrieved2009-05-08.

[39][39] Fuller, Errol (1999). The Great Auk. ISBN 0-9533553-0-6[40][40] Crofford 1989, p. 35[41][41] Cokinos 2000, p. 315[42][42] Cokinos 2000, p. 313[43][43] Crofford 1989, p. 32[44][44] Cokinos 2000, p. 311

[45] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Food Habits-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/

/

bna.

birds.

cornell.

edu/

bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ foodhabits). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29. (subscriptionrequired)

[46] Olson, Storrs L; Swift, Camm C. & Mokhiber, Carmine (1979). "An attempt to determine the prey of the Great Auk ( Pinguinus impennis)".The Auk 96 (4): 790 • 792. JSTOR 4085666.

[47] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Breeding-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ breeding). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29. (subscription required)

[48] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Demography-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/ species/ 260/ articles/ demography). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29.

[49][49] Crofford 1989, p. 33[50] "Great Auk egg" (http:/ / www. museums. norfolk. gov. uk/ default. asp?Document=300. 40. 20& Image=577& gst=). Norfolk Museums &

Archaeology Service. . Retrieved 2009-05-08.[51][51] Crofford 1989, p. 6[52][52] Crofford 1989, p. 36[53] Tuck, James A. (1976). "Ancient peoples of Port au Choix: The excavation of an Archaic Indian cemetery in Newfoundland". Newfoundland

Social and Economic Studies (St. John's: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial U of Newfoundland) 17: 261.[54] Montevecchi, William A.; David A. Kirk (1996). "Conservation-Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)" (http:/ / bna. birds. cornell. edu/ bna/

species/ 260/ articles/ conservation). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. . Retrieved 2010-04-29. (subscriptionrequired)

[55] Greenway, James C. (1967). Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World, 2nd Edition. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 271 • 291.ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4.

[56] Jordan, Richard H; Storrs L. Olson (1982). "First record of the Great Auk ( Pinguinus impennis) from Labrador" (http:/ / sora. unm. edu/ sites/ default/ files/ journals/ auk/ v099n01/ p0167-p0168. pdf). The Auk (University of California Press) 99 (1): 167 • 168.doi:10.2307/4086034. . Retrieved 2010-04-28.

[57][57] Crofford 1989, p. 38

[58][58] Crofford 1989, p. 39[59][59] Crofford 1989, p. 40[60][60] Cokinos 2000, p. 330[61][61] Cokinos 2000, p. 329[62][62] Aaron Thomas, 1794, in Murray, 1968[63] Rackwitz, Martin (2007). Travels to Terra Incognita: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers' Accounts C. 1600

to 1800. Waxmann Verlag. p. 347. ISBN 978-3-8309-1699-4.[64] Gaskell, Jeremy (2000). Who Killed the Great Auk? (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=tsUzeXV_7jcC). Oxford UP. p. 142.

ISBN 978-0-19-856478-2. .[65] Fuller, Errol (2003). The Great Auk: The Extinction of the Original Penguin (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=35rGM50pAoAC). Bunker

Hill Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-59373-003-1. .[66] Bourne, W. R. P. (1993). "The story of the Great AukPinguinis impennis". Archives of Natural History 20 (2): 257 • 278.

doi:10.3366/anh.1993.20.2.257.[67][67] Crofford 1989, p. 43[68] Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 160. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harper_Perennialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Ellis_%28biologist%29http://books.google.com/?id=35rGM50pAoAChttp://books.google.com/?id=tsUzeXV_7jcChttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Aukhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v099n01/p0167-p0168.pdfhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v099n01/p0167-p0168.pdfhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/conservationhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Tuck_%28archaeologist%29http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=300.40.20&Image=577&gst=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/demographyhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/demographyhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/breedinghttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/breedinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Aukhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/foodhabitshttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/foodhabitshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auk_%28journal%29http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v077n03/p0342-p0343.pdfhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v077n03/p0342-p0343.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=University_of_California_Presshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auk_%28journal%29http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v075n02/p0215-p0216.pdfhttp://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v075n02/p0215-p0216.pdfhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/migrationhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/migrationhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/introductionhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/introductionhttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/habitathttp://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/260/articles/habitat


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Great Auk 15

[69] Newton, Alfred (1861). "Abstract of Mr. J. Wolley's Researches in Iceland respecting the Gare-fowl or Great Auk (Alea impennis, Linn.)". Ibis 3 (4): 374 • 399. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1861.tb08857.x.

[70][70] John Wolley: 'Garefowl Books', University Library, Cambridge[71] Luther, Dieter (1996) (in German). Die ausgestorbenen V•gel der Welt . Die neue Brehm-B‚cherei 424 (4 ed.). Heidelberg:

Westarp-Wissenschaften. pp. 78 • 84. ISBN 3-89432-213-6.[72][72] Guinness Book of Records 1972[73][73] Cokinos 2000, p. 331

[74] Kingsley, Charles (1995). The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-282238-1.[75] http:/ / www. childrensnursery. org. uk/ water-babies/ water-babys%20-%200094-1. jpg[76] Blyton, Enid (1944). The Island of Adventure. London: Macmillan.[77] Joyce, James (2007). Ulysses (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=Dq2CgT4tIlsC& dq=Ulysses& printsec=frontcover& q). Charleston, SC:

BiblioLife. p. 682. ISBN 978-1-4346-0387-6. .[78] France, Anatole. Penguin Island (http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ files/ 1930/ 1930-h/ 1930-h. htm). Project Gutenberg. . Retrieved 28 April

2010.[79] O'Brian, Patrick (1981). The Surgeon's Mate (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=idKmOKXDoUIC& pg=PA84& lpg=PA84& dq=The+

Surgeon's+ Mate+ Great+ Auk& q). New York: W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 84 • 85. ISBN 0-393-30820-0. .[80] Mowat, Farley (1986). Sea of Slaughter . New York: Bantam Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-553-34269-X.[81] Jeffes, Simon (2002). 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe. London: Peters Edition Ltd. ISBN 0-9542720-0-5.[82] "Durka-The Great Auk" (http:/ / www. rockfordsrockopera. com/ characters/ other-characters-info. asp?id2=2). Rockford's Rock Opera.

2010. . Retrieved 10 May 2010.[83] "Auk News" (http:/ / www. archmereacademy. com/ Default. aspx?tabid=1045). Archmere Academy. 26 April 2010. . Retrieved 28 April2010.

[84] "Fleming College Auk's Lodge Student Association" (http:/ / www. flemingsa. com/ index. php). Fleming College Auk's Lodge StudentAssociation. 15 April 2010. . Retrieved 28 April 2010.

[85] Holzknecht, Karin (2005). "O'Sqweek 2005" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080719054354/ http:/ / www. aucs. org. au/ web/ system/ files/ 2005. 02skweek. pdf). Adelaide University Choral Society. p. 1. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. aucs. org. au/ web/ system/ files/ 2005. 02skweek. pdf) on 19 July 2008. . Retrieved 28 April 2010.

[86] http:/ / www. greatauk. com/ KMO. html[87] Schettle, Liz (17 December 2004). "Competition summons inner intellect" (http:/ / www. the-index. org/ cgi-bin/ story.

php?story=1014quizbowlkmo). The Oshkosh West Index. . Retrieved 29 April 2010.[88] Hickam, Homer (2006). "Books- Rocket Boys/October Sky" (http:/ / www. homerhickam. com/ books/ rb. shtml). Homer Hickam Online. .

Retrieved 29 April 2010.[89] Ford, Walton (2009). Pancha Tantra (illustrated ed.). Los Angeles: Taschen America LLC. ISBN 3-8228-5237-6.[90] Fuller, Errol (1999). The Great Auk (illustrated ed.). Southborough, Kent, UK: Privately Published. ISBN 0-9533553-0-6.[91] Burns, Phillip (6 July 2003). "Dodo Stamps" (http:/ / www. pibburns. com/ cryptost/ dodo. htm). Pib's Home on the Web. . Retrieved 28

April 2010.

Cited texts

• Cokinos, Christopher (2000). Hope is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds. New

York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-67749-3.

• Crofford, Emily (1989). Gone Forever: The Great Auk . New York: Crestwood House. ISBN 0-89686-459-6.• Fuller, Errol (1999). The Great Auk . Southborough, Kent, UK: Privately Published. ISBN 0-9533553-0-6.

External links

" The Home of the Great Auk" Popular Science Monthly Volume 33 Wikisource August 1888 ISSN 0161-7370

• " Auk Egg Auction (http:/ / jcgi.pathfinder.com/ time/ magazine/ article/ 0,9171,882308,00. html)," Time

Magazine, 26 November 1934.• Great Auk: Audubon fact sheet (http:/ / www. audubon.org/ bird/ BoA/ F44_G2a. html)

• 3D view (http:/ / nlbif. eti. uva. nl/ naturalis/ detail?lang=uk& id=60) of specimen RMNH 110.104 at Naturalis,

Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=QuickTimehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naturalishttp://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail?lang=uk&id=60http://www.audubon.org/bird/BoA/F44_G2a.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Time_Magazinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Time_Magazinehttp://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,882308,00.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikisourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Popular_Science_Monthlyhttp://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_33/August_1888/The_Home_of_the_Great_Aukhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Cokinoshttp://www.pibburns.com/cryptost/dodo.htmhttp://www.homerhickam.com/books/rb.shtmlhttp://www.the-index.org/cgi-bin/story.php?story=1014quizbowlkmohttp://www.the-index.org/cgi-bin/story.php?story=1014quizbowlkmohttp://www.greatauk.com/KMO.htmlhttp://www.aucs.org.au/web/system/files/2005.02skweek.pdfhttp://www.aucs.org.au/web/system/files/2005.02skweek.pdfhttp://web.archive.org/web/20080719054354/http://www.aucs.org.au/web/system/files/2005.02skweek.pdfhttp://web.archive.org/web/20080719054354/http://www.aucs.org.au/web/system/files/2005.02skweek.pdfhttp://www.flemingsa.com/index.phphttp://www.archmereacademy.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1045http://www.rockfordsrockopera.com/characters/other-characters-info.asp?id2=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simon_Jeffeshttp://books.google.com/?id=idKmOKXDoUIC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=The+Surgeon%27s+Mate+Great+Auk&qhttp://books.google.com/?id=idKmOKXDoUIC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=The+Surgeon%27s+Mate+Great+Auk&qhttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/1930/1930-h/1930-h.htmhttp://books.google.com/?id=Dq2CgT4tIlsC&dq=Ulysses&printsec=frontcover&qhttp://www.childrensnursery.org.uk/water-babies/water-babys%20-%200094-1.jpg


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Hawaiian Rail 16

Hawaiian Rail

Hawaiian Rail

Light and dark form

Conservation status

Extinct (c.1890) (IUCN 3.1)[1]


Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Gruiformes

Family: Rallidae

Genus: Porzana

Species: P. sandwichensis

Binomial name

Porzana sandwichensis

(Gmelin, 1789)

Synonyms

see text

The Hawaiian Rail ( Porzana sandwichensis), Hawaiian Spotted Rail, or Hawaiian Crake was a somewhatenigmatic species of diminutive rail that lived on Big Island of Hawai ‚i, but is now extinct. It was a flightless bird

that was apparently found in shrubland and secondary growth on abandoned fields and in times of danger had the

habit of hiding in Polynesian Rat burrows. Specimens are known or assumed to be from an area which roughlycorresponds to the middle elevations of today's Puna district around the present settlement of Mountain View, below

the primary rainforest. A dark form and a lighter, spotted one are known (see below).

The first collections were of individuals of the lighter form, of which today 5 specimens seem to exist: in the

Naturalis in Leiden (one: RMNH 87450), in the American Museum of Natural History and New York City (1)). Of

the dark form, several additional individuals are present in collections in Cambridge (Museum of Natural History, 1),

London (Natural History Museum, 1), Vienna, New York City (1) and Honolulu (Bishop Museum, 2). One 1778painting by William Ellis (plate 70) depicts a light bird, possibly the Leiden specimen (which was apparently

collected in late January/early February, 1779), and in more recent times, subfossil bones have also been recovered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Subfossilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Subfossilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Subfossilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bishop_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Honoluluhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viennahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natural_History_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Museum_of_Natural_History_%28Cambridge%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cambridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Museum_of_Natural_Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leidenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naturalishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hawaiian_tropical_rainforestshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_View%2C_Hawaiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Puna%2C_Hawaiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polynesian_Rathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flightless_birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extincthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hawaiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hawaii_%28island%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rallidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synonym_%28taxonomy%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Johann_Friedrich_Gmelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binomial_nomenclaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Porzanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rallidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gruiformeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chordatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biological_classificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AStatus_iucn3.1_EX.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conservation_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hawaiirail.jpg


19/82

Hawaiian Rail 17

The native name for the bird was apparently moho, said to refer to a small "bird that crows in the grass". The nameiao or € iao was claimed to refer to a moho-like but smaller bird; it is not clear whether this bird was the distinctive

lighter form or the extinct unnamed small rail (see below). The bird is referenced in the old Hawaiian proverb € A€ ohe

mea n‚na e ho€ opuhili, he moho no ka l‚ makani which means roughly "nothing can blow him off course, he is like amoho in the wind"; it was used to indicate admiration for an undaunted or determined person (as the bird was unable

to fly, it was not affected by the wind). This is not to be confused with the taxonomical name Moho

, which are the€ ƒ€ ƒ; also from Hawai‚i, also extinct, but completely unrelated birds.

Systematics

Illustration by F.W. Frohawk.

Considerable confusion has been created by the existence of twodistinct forms. While it cannot be completely excluded that early

specimens were collected on another island, only O‚ahu and Kaua‚i

seem possible given the history of the specimens' collection, and onlyon the latter island is a similar-sized species now known to have once

existed. However, the bones from Kaua‚i are in the upper size range of

those found of sandwichensis, while the specimens of the lighter formare all of smaller birds.

On the Big Island, a smaller species of Porzana is now known from

subfossil bones found on the southwestern slope of Mauna Kea, but

this bird was only the size of a Laysan Crake; it may have been the birdnamed iao or € iao, which would place its extinction at a relatively

recent date. In addition, there are some bones of a third species, approximately 15% larger than P. sandwichensis,

found near Kailua-Kona.

The generally accepted theory is that the lighter birds represent immatures, and certainly only such specimens have

been described as young birds (the Hanover specimen is labeled as "juvenile"), but since the exact collectionlocalities are not known with sufficient detail, only DNA analysis could resolve this question, particularly since the

recovered bone material can also be expected to yield analyzable DNA fragments.

At any rate, both light and dark birds are today treated as a single species, the junior synonyms of which are as

follows:

• Rallus sandwichensis Gmelin, 1789• Rallus obscurus Gmelin, 1789• Pennula millei (lapsus) Dole, 1878•• Pennula millsi

• Pennula wilsoni Finsch, 1898• Pennula ecaudata King

The last 5 names refer to the dark form. However, Rallus obscurus is something of a mystery as it is generally

assumed that at the time of Gmelin's writing, the species was only known from light birds (which were described assandwichensis on the preceding page of Gmelin's work), but he seems to have seen a specimen of his obscurus at the

Leverian Museum (Stresemann, 1950).

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leverian_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_Finschhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanford_B._Dolehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Johann_Friedrich_Gmelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synonym_%28zoology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DNAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juvenile_%28organism%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kailua-Kona%2C_Hawai%27ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laysan_Crakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mauna_Keahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Subfossilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kauaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oahuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AZzzHawaiianrail.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moho_%28genus%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taxonomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hawaiian_language


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Hawaiian Rail 18

Extinction

Specimens of the light form were collected in 1778 on the third Cook expedition; the dark form was supposedly not

found at that time (but see above). Apparently, all or at least most specimens of the latter were procured over a short

period around 1860 by James D. Mills, the last one in 1864. The last reliable sight record was in 1884, with adoubtful one in 1893; a dedicated search in 1887 failed to find the bird, but as it was rather cryptic, this cannot be

taken as unequivocal proof that it was completely extinct by then.

Specimen painted by William Ellis whileaccompanying Captain James Cook on his third

voyage (1776 •

78)

As neither the Small Asian Mongoose nor mosquitoes (which transmit

fowlpox and avian malaria, both exceptionally lethal to Hawaiian

endemic birds) were present on Big Island until 1883 and the 1890s,respectively, this species' extinction was probably caused by

introduced European rats, cats and possibly dogs. Hunting, sometimes

assumed to have played a major part, probably was not significant asthe bird was protected by a kapu which prohibited hunting except byali€ i until 1819. After that, the few specimens that were collectedsuggest it was not extensively hunted even after the kapu were

abolished.

References[1] BirdLife International (2012). " Porzana sandwichensis" (http:/ / www. iucnredlist. org/ apps/ redlist/ details/ 106002908). IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. . Retrieved 16 July 2012.

• Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789): [Description of Porzana sandwichensis]. In: Systema Naturae per regna trianaturae secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (13th ed.) 1,

part II: 717. Georg Emanuel Beer, Lipsiae [Leipzig]

• Stresemann, Erwin (1950): Birds collected during Capt. James Cook's Last Expedition. Auk 67(1): 66 • 88. PDFfulltext (http:/ / elibrary. unm. edu/ sora/ Auk/ v067n01/ p0066-p0088. pdf)

External links

• 3D view (http:/ / ip30. eti. uva. nl/ naturalis/ detail?lang=uk& id=15) of specimen RMNH 87450 at the Naturalis,

Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin)• Natural History Museum (http:/ / owen.nhm. ac. uk/ piclib/ www/ image.php?img=51205): William Ellis' plate

70

http://owen.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?img=51205http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=QuickTimehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leidenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naturalishttp://ip30.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail?lang=uk&id=15http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v067n01/p0066-p0088.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auk_%28journal%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Systema_Naturaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Naturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106002908http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BirdLife_Internationalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ali%27ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kapuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Avian_malariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fowlpoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mosquitohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Small_Asian_Mongoosehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3APorzana_sandwichensis.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_D._Millshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Cook


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Hawaii ‰Š 19

Hawai€i €€€•

Hawai€i €€€•

Conservation status

Extinct (IUCN 3.1)[1]


Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Suborder: Passeri

Infraorder: Passerida

Family: Mohoidae

Genus: Moho

Species: M. nobilis

Binomial name

Moho nobilis

Merrem, 1786

The Hawai€i €€€• ( Moho nobilis) is a member of the extinct genus of the ‚‰‚Šs ( Moho) within the extinct family

Mohoidae. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific honeyeaters ( Meliphagidae).[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Honeyeaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohoidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moho_%28genus%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blasius_Merremhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binomial_nomenclaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moho_%28genus%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohoidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Passeridahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Songbirdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Passeriformeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chordatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biological_classificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IUCN_Red_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AStatus_iucn3.1_EX.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conservation_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AMoho_nobilis-Keulemans.jpg


22/82

Hawaii ‰Š 20

Description

Illustration by William Ellis

The 'Hawai‚i ‚‰‚Š was first described by Blasius Merrem in 1786. It

had an overall length of 32 centimetres ( in), wing length of 11 • 11.5centimetres (unknown operator: u'['unknown operator:

u'['unknown operator: u'[' unknown operator: u'['), and tail length

of up to 19 centimetres ( in). The colour of its plumage was glossyblack with a brown shading at the belly. It was further characterized by

yellowish tufts at the axillaries. It had some yellowish plumes on its

rump, but lacked yellow thigh feathers like the Bishop's ‚‰‚Š, and alsolacked the whitish edgings on its tail feathers like the O‚ahu ‚‰‚Š.

However it had the largest yellow plumes on its wings out of all the

species of ‚‰‚Š.

Extinction

At the time of discovery by Europeans, it was still relatively common

on the Big Island, but that was soon to change. The Hawai‚i ‚‰‚Š wasextensively hunted by Native Hawaiians. Its striking plumage was used

for € a€ ahu ali€ i (robes)

extinct bird of the world

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