Great Auk - Extinct Species
by Art MacKay
Title
Great Auk - Extinct Species
Artist
Art MacKay
Medium
Mixed Media - Ink, Acrylic, Digital And More.
Description
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. 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 great auks. When not breeding, they spent their time foraging in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain.
The great auk was 30 to 33 in tall and weighed about 11 lbs. It had a black back and a white belly. The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. The wings were only 5.9 in long, rendering the bird flightless. But, the great auk was a powerful swimmer and its favourite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin, and crustaceans.
Great auk pairs mated for life. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around 6 weeks before the young hatched. The young left the nest site after 2–3 weeks, although the parents continued to care for it.
The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones. One burial discovered included someone covered by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auk skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great 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 that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century.
On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt. Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. A record of one great auk in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species.
(After Wikipedia)
Uploaded
June 25th, 2022
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