What Kind Of Bird Is An Auk?

Auks include the guillemots, puffins and razorbills; they differ from gulls, terns and skimmers and other seabirds both in appearance and behaviour. Auks are heavily built and look at lot like penguins. They walk in a very clumsy way but are good divers and can swim really well underwater using their wings.

They are in fact completely unrelated to penguins and the similarities between the species is due to convergent evolution - both birds have solved the same problems in adapting to their environment using the same body shapes.

Auks are found on the ocean shores of the northern hemisphere, particularly in the colder areas. Some are found as far south as the Baltic Sea and the guillemot ranges south to Portugal on the Atlantic and the Gulf of California on the Pacific.

One auk, the great flightless auk became extinct in 1844 when it was massacred for meat by sailors.

Add Comment

Report