A bird exterminated due to human stupidity and greed. Great auk - a bird exterminated due to human stupidity and greed Atlantic auk

A. Lebedev

The article is devoted to an extinct flightless bird - the great auk.

Everyone knows the penguins that inhabit the southern hemisphere, but few people know that the word “penguin” itself came from the north (however, some people probably still think that penguins live in the Arctic along with Polar bears). But earlier this was the name given to a completely different bird (though a little similar), the great auk. There are different versions of the origin of this word. According to one of them, it comes from the phrase “pen gwyn” (white-headed), according to another version it comes from the words “pin wing” (pin wing), and finally, the third option is from the Latin “pingus” (thick). Over time, this name passed into many languages, and then generally changed the object that was called this word.

The great auk was well known to European sailors, and when they saw similar birds in the southern seas, they were immediately named penguins. Although it is worth noting that these systematically distant birds, due to similar living conditions, are indeed very similar in appearance. The great auk lost the ability to fly and had only underdeveloped wings. On land she walked awkwardly, stretched out vertically and swaying from one foot to the other. But in the sea, no one would recognize these clumsy birds: like penguins, the auk swam and dived excellently, flapping its wings under water. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat served as reliable thermal insulation during long stays in water.

This bird had many other names, which suggests that people have known this bird since ancient times. The ancient Scandinavians called the auk "geirfugel" (spear bird), and the Basques called it "arponaz" (spear bird). Both of these names arose due to the powerful elongated beak of the auk. The modern English name great auk (great auk) appeared only in the 18th century.

In historical times, the great auk was widespread along the coasts and islands of the entire North Atlantic (from Labrador and Newfoundland to Greenland and Iceland, and from Norway to the British Isles). It was a large bird, the size of a goose. The height of an adult auk was 75–85 cm. The length of the wings was only 150–170 mm. Due to constant persecution by people, the poor bird's distribution area was rapidly shrinking. Even before the beginning of the 10th century, people tried to make the great auk disappear from the coast of the continent, finding refuge on inaccessible, rocky islands. But this could no longer save these birds. By the 10th century, miners were no longer interested so much in spearfish meat, but in fat and soft elastic feathers, which became a valuable commodity in many places in Europe. Gradually, the great auk became an inhabitant of only the northern inaccessible islands. But with the development of navigation, man was able to get there.

The great auk was perfectly adapted to living in water. She nested on rocks and islands remote from the coast along with other birds,

number seabirds in the colonies around the island of Newfoundland shocked the first European travelers. In such inaccessible conditions, the auk could not be reached by land predators, except for one. Since ancient times, the great auk has been the object of fishing for coastal residents. The inability to fly, gullibility, and huge nesting congregations made it an easy prey. It wasn't worth getting the Great Auk special labor. They were killed with clubs, oars, sticks, and driven into boats on a plank thrown over the side as many of them could fit there. Sailors, stocking up on provisions for a long voyage, salted large fat birds in barrels. Ships with holds filled with auks departed from the islands. Egg fishing has also been carried out for a long time.

For sailors forced to live on corned beef and crackers for a long time, seabird colonies were a salvation. Great auks were the most profitable and easy prey, which is why they got the most. The birds nesting in the area of ​​the island of Newfoundland were unlucky; they were just on the way from Europe to the New England colonies. Ships continually approached the bird islands to replenish provisions and left with their holds completely filled. Later, settlers joined the fishermen. For many of them, birds were the main food. With the growing population on the Atlantic coast of America, the procurement of meat and eggs of seabirds became an increasingly profitable business. No less devastation than the procurement of meat and eggs was caused by the extraction of fat; the demand for it at that time was very high. The great auk was an ideal subject for this.

And, despite this insane incessant extermination, great auks survived for several centuries, so colossal was their number before that. The spearmen were finished off by the increased demand for feathers and down in the second half of the 18th century, which were used to make pillows, feather beds and furniture upholstery. Eiders and many other species also suffered. Only in 1794 did the London Colonial Secretary prohibit the destruction of spearmen for the feather trade. But this ban came too late, and besides, no one was going to implement it. By 1802, the last penguin colony in North America on Funk Island was completely destroyed.

For several more decades, pitiful remnants of great auk colonies remained in the north Atlantic. They could no longer be of any interest to the fishery. Only two tiny islands off the southwestern coast of Iceland near the Reykjanes Peninsula became the last refuge of great auks. Actually, these were not islands, but just rocks in the sea. These are the islands of Geirfuglasker and Elday. Geirfuglasker served as a reliable refuge for birds. The island was almost inaccessible due to the strong surf. Fishing on these islands was not very profitable, since two nearby monasteries demanded 3/4 of the production as a duty. But in the winter of 1830, the island of Geirfuglasker was swallowed up by the sea as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption. Only a tiny colony of Great Auks remains on Elday Island.

By that time, meat and feather miners had already forgotten about the spear carrier as an object of fishing. But then collectors entered the arena, putting an end to this tragedy. When everyone began to understand that the days of the “northern penguin” were numbered, prices for stuffed auks and eggs skyrocketed, and many museums and private collectors wanted to get their hands on copies. It is not even known approximately what the number of spearmen was during the times of their prosperity. The numbers only reflect how many birds were killed in last years existence of the species.

1830 - 13 birds

1831 - 24 birds

1833 – 13 birds

1834 – 9 birds

1840 - 1841 - 3 birds

The last two birds were killed on June 3, 1844. Whether these birds were truly the last representatives of their species will never be established. In any case, they are the ones who went down in history. After this, for more than ten years there were reports of sightings of great auks in various places, but it was not possible to verify them.”

From the once thriving species, 78 stuffed animals and carcasses remain in museums, about 75 eggs and several skeletons. Now they cost a lot of money. Now on the island of Elday there is a small memorial in the form of a statue of a great auk; this sculpture has become a symbol of the lost natural heritage.

The last pair of great auks was destroyed by two poachers in 1844; fortunately, there is still a surviving related species of auks that lives on the islands of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The names of these two people are known to everyone; we will indicate them at the end of this short but very informative article.

The height of the bird reached from 70 to 82 cm, the beak was very massive and hooked, somewhat reminiscent of the beak of the living pelican bird, its size varied from 77 to 100 millimeters, and there were from 7 to 12 characteristic depressions on the upper and lower jaws.

The weight of this magnificent wingless bird reached more than 5 kilograms due to the huge amount of subcutaneous fat, which served to maintain the desired body temperature.

Outwardly, this bird was very similar to an ordinary penguin. The body color of females and males was practically no different. The belly was white and the back was black. On its short paws there were three fingers, which were connected to each other by webbed thin skin.

There were wings small sizes and could reach 15 cm, while the flight feathers were no more than 10 cm. Around her eyes there was a huge white spot that appeared in summer period, and then disappeared. The membranes of both eyes were chestnut or hazel colored.

This type of bird preferred to inhabit the uninhabited islands of the North Atlantic. We present the most common regions where prehistoric birds lived and reproduced en masse in this list:

• Fans Islands;
• Iceland;
• English Isles;
• Scandinavia;

In those days it could be found a little further south. Anthropologists have found their remains in Florida, Gibraltar, Italy and other areas of the Mediterranean.

They settled and nested in huge colonies. It is no secret that this species was the largest and weighed an order of magnitude more than a modern animal from the auk family. Its body weight was more than that of a domestic goose.

In the process of evolution, the bird's wings became small and therefore it lost the ability to fly.. The limbs of the great auk were moved far to the end of the body, based on this fact; she became an impeccable and fast swimmer. However, on land it was extremely clumsy and very vulnerable to predators and poachers.

Based on reliable sources, we can say; that ancient tribes began to consume its meat in 1590, and the systematic extermination of this species began at the end of the eighteenth century and continued until the 44th year of this century.

Caravans of a variety of ships were drawn to the Icelandic islands, eager to fill it to capacity with auk meat, and then sell the fishery to Napoleonic army. Merchants and the wealthy layer of people of that time valued not only the meat of the auk, but also its down and feathers.

She spent most of her life in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Large individuals of this species tried to live as close to shallow water as possible.

The place of immediate residence was the rocky uninhabited islands that were located near Newfoundland near Iceland. The question may naturally arise; why exactly these places were inhabited by extinct prehistoric birds?

The answer is more than obvious, the fact is that even in our time this territory is oversaturated a huge amount fish and is the fishing zone of the above-described states.

Despite the fact that she could not fly, she led a nomadic lifestyle and could change her habitat - traveling by water from one island to another.

Nutrition

The diet of these birds was very modest, but at the same time voluminous. The daily menu included:

• Fish (Pacific herring);
• Crustaceans;

Although the great auk was a clumsy, sluggish bird on land, it was a master when on land. One could only envy her diving and swimming skills.

Thanks to special membranes on her limbs, she could develop enormous speed during underwater hunting, and her short limbs also served as a rudder. Short wings helped not only to skillfully maneuver during scuba diving, but also to get out of the water.

By nature, they were silent birds; only during the mating season did the males make hoarse and whining sounds, calling on their partner to create a pair.

The breeding season occurred at the end of May and lasted until mid-July. During nesting, they gathered and nested in huge groups, there is such an opinion; that they could nest near other bird species. For nesting, they preferred to choose steep and rocky landscapes of the island, probably so that predators could not destroy their clutch.

There was only one greenish-blue egg in the clutch, and both parents hatched it. His parents supported him between their short legs and warmed him with their thick down, like a penguin.

44 days will pass and the baby will hatch; its delicate skin was wrapped in thick white fluff, which reliably warmed it in the harsh northern climatic conditions. The chicks were fed alternately. When the feathers on his body replaced down, he could go down to the water and lead an independent lifestyle.

There are currently no exact data. We assume that they could have lived in the wild for no more than 22 years.

1. The names of the people who killed the last two auks. They were; Sigurd Ilefsson and Jon Bradsson.
2. From official sources we learned; that in one day poachers collected more than one hundred thousand auk eggs, and boats left the hunting grounds filled to the brim with the dead bodies of these now extinct birds.
3. Based on archaeological excavations, it can be argued that; ancient people hunted this bird - eight thousand years ago.
4. The stuffed auk was sold to the Icelandic Museum in 1971 for £9,000.
5. Since the 12th century, ancient tribes buried the deceased along with the bones of these birds.
6. People of that time valued not only meat, but also feathers and down of this bird were actively bought by merchants.

The great auk became the first bird species living in North America to be included in the list of extinct animals not as a result of the natural processes of the evolutionary development of life on Earth, but because of thoughtless human activity.

It is not by chance that the great auk got its name. Indeed, this bird belonged to the flightless group. By appearance it resembled a penguin, and therefore in early descriptions one can find its name as “northern penguin.”

Males and females of the great auk were almost the same. Their entire body was covered with shiny feathers, black on the head and back and white on the chest and belly. Only with the beginning of the mating season did males develop large white spots around their eyes.

These were quite large birds. The height of individual individuals often exceeded 75 cm. As a rule, they settled in large colonies on the islands of the Atlantic Ocean located near the North American continent.

Some time after the mating season, the female great auk produced one egg. Its diameter was about 15 cm. However, the birds did not build nests, but laid eggs on the stones of coastal cliffs.

Great auks could not fly at all. And on land they moved, swaying heavily from side to side. These were the most clumsy and clumsy birds of the coastal strip, becoming easy prey for the faster birds that lived on the islands. In case of danger, auks could only run across slowly, taking short steps. At the same time, the safe place for them was the waters of the ocean, where they threw themselves, fleeing from enemies, from a height of 4 - 4.5 m.

Once in the water, great auks became fast and agile. And there was no trace left of the slowness that characterized them when they were on land. These birds could quickly dive and swim, thus covering considerable distances. Old-timers said that in such cases it was impossible to catch up with the auk even in a rowing boat. The auk's short but strong wings, which were used by the bird underwater as flippers, helped the auk swim well. Scientists suggest that auks once made long journeys by water.

Archaeologists and paleontologists claim that auks have been known to people for a long time. Even 18 thousand years ago, people began to hunt for these coastal birds. Judging by the finds, then great auks inhabited many shores of the Atlantic Ocean, starting from the coast of North America and ending with the British Isles, as well as the islands of Scandinavia and Spain. In historical times, auks were also quite widespread on Earth. They are known to have inhabited the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Labrador.

The destruction of the great auk began in the spring of 1534. It was then that the ship of the famous traveler Jacques Cartier approached the shores of Funk Island. The sailors from the ship saw many birds that could become easy prey for hungry sailors. Then the Europeans took two boats from the island, fully loaded with dead birds. This was only the beginning of the story of the extinction of a bird species.

At the beginning of the next 17th century, the Englishman Richard Whitbourne visited Funk Island. Later he wrote: “... The sailors drive these birds along the plank into the boat, hundreds at a time, as if God had created this pitiful creature so simple-minded that it would serve man as an excellent reinforcement of his strength...” However, judging by historical sources, it was not the Europeans who were the main culprits of the death great auks. It became known that long before Cartier arrived at Funk Island, the population began to decline sharply. At that time, the island mentioned above was home to the largest colony of auks on the planet.

The most rapid decline in the number of great auks occurred between 1732 and 1760. Sailors of whaling and fishing vessels passing by Funk Island filled their holds with the carcasses of killed birds. After exploration and settlement, the settlers of the New World needed a pen. Its source was the same great auk that lived on islands located near North America. At the beginning of the 19th century, not a single auk remained on Funk Island.

The last habitat of the waterfowl was the Geyerfuglasker cliff, located off the coast of Iceland. The rocks of the cliff were high and inaccessible. Many auk hunters who tried to climb the cliff often fell into the water and drowned. Such cases were not uncommon, and therefore at that time there were few people willing to go to the island to get birds. But at the beginning of the 19th century, American sailors were able to conquer the cliff. The result is numbers. Great auks have declined even further.

And in 1830, due to geological changes, the Geierfuglasker cliff sank to the bottom of the ocean. The birds that lived there were forced to move to the neighboring island of Eldi Rock. At this point, man could not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the gifts of nature. The last pair of great auks was destroyed by Icelandic sailors hunting the birds for lucrative rewards in the summer of 1844.

Thus, the great auk, a species of birds that existed on the planet for many tens of thousands of years, disappeared. In memory of her, only 70 stuffed animals, 90 skeletons and 74 eggs remained. Two stuffed animals are kept in Russia: one in the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, and the other in the Darwin Museum in Moscow.

Birds are the most diverse, numerous and least studied group of living creatures from a paleontological point of view. And this is connected with that. that the bones of the feathered skeleton are extremely thin and fragile, and therefore are poorly preserved in the thickness of rocks.

The last pair of Great Auks to nest was killed in 1844 on the island of Eldi off the coast of Iceland. The species was destroyed by hunters and collectors.

   Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Length: 70-80 cm.
Beak length: 7-98 mm.
Weight: about 5 kg.

REPRODUCTION
Nesting period: most likely from May to mid-July.
Number of eggs: 1.
Hatching: about 44 days.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: They lived in small flocks and, during the nesting period, in large colonies.
Food: fish.
Sounds: during mating there is a quiet whining and wheezing.
Lifespan: no data.

RELATED SPECIES
The great auk's closest relative was Pinguinus alfrednewtoni. Of the 22 species of auks that have survived to this day, the closest relative of the great auk is the great auk (Alca torda).

   The great auk was an easy prey because it could not fly. Therefore, people have hunted it en masse for centuries for meat and fat. The bird was on the verge of destruction already in the 18th century, when traders in feathers and meat discovered it as a wonderful “supplier” of these goods.

FOOD

• In 1971, the Icelandic Museum of Natural History paid a record sum of 9 thousand pounds for a stuffed auk.
• The names of the killers of the last pair of great auks are known: Jon Bradsson, Sigurd Ilefsson and Kstil Kentilsson.
• Archaeological excavations near human habitation suggest that people hunted great auks as early as 8,000 years ago.
• In the 18th century, hunting acquired special proportions. Information has been preserved that 100,000 eggs were collected per day, and boats left the hunting grounds filled to the brim with the carcasses of dead great auks.

comparison of EGGS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF AGUEMS

A. Lebedev

The article is devoted to an extinct flightless bird - the great auk.

Everyone knows the penguins that inhabit the southern hemisphere, but few people know that the word “penguin” itself came from the north (however, some people probably still think that penguins live in the Arctic along with Polar bears). But earlier this was the name given to a completely different bird (though a little similar), the great auk. There are different versions of the origin of this word. According to one of them, it comes from the phrase “pen gwyn” (white-headed), according to another version it comes from the words “pin wing” (pin wing), and finally, the third option is from the Latin “pingus” (thick). Over time, this name passed into many languages, and then generally changed the object that was called this word.

The great auk was well known to European sailors, and when they saw similar birds in the southern seas, they were immediately named penguins. Although it is worth noting that these systematically distant birds, due to similar living conditions, are indeed very similar in appearance. The great auk lost the ability to fly and had only underdeveloped wings. On land she walked awkwardly, stretched out vertically and swaying from one foot to the other. But in the sea, no one would recognize these clumsy birds: like penguins, the auk swam and dived excellently, flapping its wings under water. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat served as reliable thermal insulation during long stays in water.

This bird had many other names, which suggests that people have known this bird since ancient times. The ancient Scandinavians called the auk "geirfugel" (spear bird), and the Basques called it "arponaz" (spear bird). Both of these names arose due to the powerful elongated beak of the auk. The modern English name great auk (great auk) appeared only in the 18th century.

In historical times, the great auk was widespread along the coasts and islands of the entire North Atlantic (from Labrador and Newfoundland to Greenland and Iceland, and from Norway to the British Isles). It was a large bird, the size of a goose. The height of an adult auk was 75–85 cm. The length of the wings was only 150–170 mm. Due to constant persecution by people, the poor bird's distribution area was rapidly shrinking. Even before the beginning of the 10th century, people tried to make the great auk disappear from the coast of the continent, finding refuge on inaccessible, rocky islands. But this could no longer save these birds. By the 10th century, miners were no longer interested so much in spearfish meat, but in fat and soft elastic feathers, which became a valuable commodity in many places in Europe. Gradually, the great auk became an inhabitant of only the northern inaccessible islands. But with the development of navigation, man was able to get there.

The great auk was perfectly adapted to living in water. She nested on rocks and islands remote from the coast along with other birds,

The number of seabirds in the colonies around the island of Newfoundland shocked the first European travelers. In such inaccessible conditions, the auk could not be reached by land predators, except for one. Since ancient times, the great auk has been the object of fishing for coastal residents. The inability to fly, gullibility, and huge nesting congregations made it an easy prey. It didn't take much effort to get a great auk. They were killed with clubs, oars, sticks, and driven into boats on a plank thrown over the side as many of them could fit there. Sailors, stocking up on provisions for a long voyage, salted large fat birds in barrels. Ships with holds filled with auks departed from the islands. Egg fishing has also been carried out for a long time.

For sailors forced to live on corned beef and crackers for a long time, seabird colonies were a salvation. Great auks were the most profitable and easy prey, which is why they got the most. The birds nesting in the area of ​​the island of Newfoundland were unlucky; they were just on the way from Europe to the New England colonies. Ships continually approached the bird islands to replenish provisions and left with their holds completely filled. Later, settlers joined the fishermen. For many of them, birds were the main food. With the growing population on the Atlantic coast of America, the procurement of meat and eggs of seabirds became an increasingly profitable business. No less devastation than the procurement of meat and eggs was caused by the extraction of fat; the demand for it at that time was very high. The great auk was an ideal subject for this.

And, despite this insane incessant extermination, great auks survived for several centuries, so colossal was their number before that. The spearmen were finished off by the increased demand for feathers and down in the second half of the 18th century, which were used to make pillows, feather beds and furniture upholstery. Eiders and many other species also suffered. Only in 1794 did the London Colonial Secretary prohibit the destruction of spearmen for the feather trade. But this ban came too late, and besides, no one was going to implement it. By 1802, the last penguin colony in North America on Funk Island was completely destroyed.

For several more decades, pitiful remnants of great auk colonies remained in the north Atlantic. They could no longer be of any interest to the fishery. Only two tiny islands off the southwestern coast of Iceland near the Reykjanes Peninsula became the last refuge of great auks. Actually, these were not islands, but just rocks in the sea. These are the islands of Geirfuglasker and Elday. Geirfuglasker served as a reliable refuge for birds. The island was almost inaccessible due to the strong surf. Fishing on these islands was not very profitable, since two nearby monasteries demanded 3/4 of the production as a duty. But in the winter of 1830, the island of Geirfuglasker was swallowed up by the sea as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption. Only a tiny colony of Great Auks remains on Elday Island.

By that time, meat and feather miners had already forgotten about the spear carrier as an object of fishing. But then collectors entered the arena, putting an end to this tragedy. When everyone began to understand that the days of the “northern penguin” were numbered, prices for stuffed auks and eggs skyrocketed, and many museums and private collectors wanted to get their hands on copies. It is not even known approximately what the number of spearmen was during the times of their prosperity. The numbers only reflect how many birds were killed in the last years of the species' existence.

1830 - 13 birds

1831 - 24 birds

1833 – 13 birds

1834 – 9 birds

1840 - 1841 - 3 birds

The last two birds were killed on June 3, 1844. Whether these birds were truly the last representatives of their species will never be established. In any case, they are the ones who went down in history. After this, for more than ten years there were reports of sightings of great auks in various places, but it was not possible to verify them.”

From the once thriving species, 78 stuffed animals and carcasses remain in museums, about 75 eggs and several skeletons. Now they cost a lot of money. Now on the island of Elday there is a small memorial in the form of a statue of a great auk; this sculpture has become a symbol of the lost natural heritage.

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