Great Auk

Great auks are cute creatures for the same reason that the penguins we know today are cute…they look like someone stuck them in little tuxedos! While they look much like penguins, they aren’t related to them.

These birds occupied ranges in Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Norway, and a few other locations. While they adapted to be flightless, great auks were strong swimmers who relied on the ocean for food. They nested on cliffs that descended into the water. Great auks were easily spotted birds and were hunted in the 16th century as a source of down for pillows.

When it became known that their numbers were declining, wealthy Europeans collected eggs which irrevocably hurt their numbers even more. The last documented sighting of this extinct animal was back in 1852. The British Parliament tried protecting these beautiful birds in the 1770s. But unfortunately, it was already too late.