Auk (bird)

Auk (bird), common name for any of the web-footed seabirds in the auk and puffin family and specifically for the razor-billed auk. The razor-billed auk is a swimming bird, about 40 cm (about 16 in) long, black above and white beneath. The bird has a short tail and short wings, and it is awkward on land. It is, however, an excellent swimmer and diver and uses its wings to swim under water.

The auk spends most of the year in the open water of the North Atlantic Ocean, migrating as far south as Cape Hatteras in winter. In summer it breeds on the rocky ledges of the North Atlantic coast from Newfoundland and Labrador and Greenland to Norway, laying only one or two eggs.

The great auk (also known as the garefowl), now extinct, was a large bird, about the size of a goose. Unable to fly, it was an easy prey; overhunted for feathers and oil, it became extinct around 1850. Other members of the family are auklets, guillemots, and puffins. Auks are also related to gulls and shorebirds.

Scientific classification: Auks make up the family Alcidae, of the order Charadriiformes. The name especially applies to birds of the genus Alca. The razor-billed auk is classified as Alca torda, and the great auk is classified as Pinguinus impennis.