Auks as a group are not extinct, but the most famous species, the Great Auk, vanished nearly two centuries ago. The confusion surrounding the status of the “auk” stems from the extinction of this single, well-known bird. All living auks belong to the family Alcidae, a diverse group of seabirds that thrives across the northern oceans.
The Alcidae Family: Defining the Modern Auk
The Alcidae family comprises approximately 22 species of diving seabirds found exclusively in the Northern Hemisphere, often referred to as alcids. These birds, such as puffins, murres, guillemots, and auklets, share a distinctive black-and-white plumage and an upright posture. Auks are highly adapted for a life at sea, spending most of the year in the frigid waters of the Arctic, subarctic, and North Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Their short, narrow wings allow them to perform a fast, whirring flight through the air and to “fly” underwater. They are pursuit divers, using their powerful wings to propel themselves through the water to catch fish and crustaceans.
All surviving species of auks retain the ability to fly, a characteristic the extinct Great Auk lost. The family includes the Atlantic Puffin with its brightly colored beak, the deep-diving Common Murre, and the small Little Auk (Dovekie). These birds congregate in large, dense colonies on rocky coasts and islands only during the breeding season.
The Tragedy of the Great Auk
The Great Auk, scientifically named Pinguinus impennis, was the only flightless member of the Alcidae family and the source of the extinction query. This large seabird stood about 75 to 90 centimeters tall and weighed around 5 kilograms, resembling a goose in size. Its flightless nature made it uniquely vulnerable on land, where it bred on a few scattered, remote islands across the North Atlantic.
The causes of its demise were directly linked to relentless human exploitation spanning centuries. Hunters targeted the bird for its meat, eggs, oil, and especially its down, which was a valuable commodity for stuffing pillows. The birds’ awkward movements on land meant that hunters could easily herd and slaughter them in massive numbers when they came ashore to breed.
The primary reason the population could not recover was the Great Auk’s reproductive strategy: females laid only a single egg each year. By the mid-16th century, colonies on the European side of the Atlantic were largely eliminated due to the demand for down. Even after early protection laws were enacted, hunting persisted, especially in North America.
The species was ultimately driven to extinction by the collecting craze of the 19th century, as its rarity made specimens highly prized by museums and private collectors. The last confirmed breeding pair was killed on the island of Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, on June 3, 1844. Two men strangled the adults and crushed their single egg.
Conservation Challenges for Surviving Species
While the Great Auk is gone, its living relatives now face a new array of threats distinct from the direct slaughter that caused the extinction of their kin. A primary modern challenge is climate change, which disrupts the marine food web auks depend upon. Rising ocean temperatures are causing key prey species, like small fish and zooplankton, to shift their distribution or decline in abundance.
This change in food availability severely impacts breeding success, particularly for species like the Atlantic Puffin, whose chicks require specific, energy-rich fish. Extreme weather events, such as intense storms, are also increasing in frequency and severity, leading to mass mortality events for murres and other auks during the non-breeding season. These storms make foraging difficult and cause large numbers of birds to wash ashore.
Modern fishing practices also pose a danger to alcids, which can become entangled in fishing gear and drown while diving for food. In addition to entanglement, many species are vulnerable to oil spills and the widespread issue of plastic pollution in the ocean. The ingestion of plastic debris or exposure to oil can be lethal.
Auks are now the focus of conservation efforts that concentrate on protecting their marine habitat and addressing the systemic issues of a changing climate. The vulnerability of many auk species, including the Razorbill and various murres, to these interconnected ecological issues means their future depends on ecosystem-level protection and management.