The great auk Pinguinus impennis , also known as the penguin or garefowl , is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around , years ago and became extinct in the midth century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It was unrelated to the penguins of the Southern Hemisphere, which were named for their resemblance to this species. It bred on rocky, remote islands with easy access to the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the great auks.
During the non-breeding season, the auk foraged in the waters of the North Atlantic , ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. The bird was 75 to 85 centimetres 30 to 33 inches tall and weighed about 5 kilograms 11 pounds , making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall the prehistoric Miomancalla was larger.
The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. During summer, great auk plumage showed a white patch over each eye. During winter, the great auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes.
The wings were only 15 cm 6 in long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Its favourite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin , and crustaceans. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. Great auk pairs mated for life. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. The egg was white with variable brown marbling. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around six weeks before the young hatched.
The young left the nest site after two to three weeks, although the parents continued to care for it. The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones. One burial discovered included someone covered by more than great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins.
