Auk
The auk is a type of bird. It is the English word for any bird in the family Alcidae. There are many species of auk. They live in the northern half of Planet Earth.
| Auks Temporal range: Late Eocene – recent
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| Parakeet auklets (Aethia psittacula) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Clade: | Pan-Alcidae |
| Family: | Alcidae Leach, 1820 |
| Type species | |
| Alca torda | |
| Subfamilies | |
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Some auks are small birds and some are medium-sized birds. All auks live on or near the ocean. They have long, thick bodies. They have small wings and tails. They have short legs and webbed feet. Auks do not walk well. They flap their wings very fast to fly. When they fly, they cannot change direction as fast as other birds can. But auks swim and dive well.[1] Auks look like penguins because they are usually black and white in color, with black on the back and white on the belly. But auks and penguins are not closely related. They do not live in the same places. Auks can fly and penguins cannot.[2]
Most auks live on the ocean. They stay far from land for months. They come to land to build nests, lay eggs, and raise young auk chicks.[2]
Groups
There are 11 genuses[3] and 23 species in the auk family.[4] There are razorbills, murres, guillemots, puffins,[5] and the little auk.[1] One species of auk, the great auk, is extinct. All great auks are dead.[2]
Auk Media
Auks as painted by Archibald Thorburn
Razorbills are true auks only found in the Atlantic Ocean.
The synthliboramphine Xantus's murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus) is quite distinct from the brachyramphine murrelets.
Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle, a true guillemot) in summer (front) and winter plumage
Marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus, a brachyramphine murrelet) in breeding plumage
Tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Auks". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Alcidae - Auks, Murres, Puffins". Wildlife Junior. New Hampshire Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- ↑ "Alcidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- ↑ "Alcidae - Auks". British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- ↑ "The Auk Family". The Puffin Project. Audobon Society. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
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Wikispecies has information on: Auk. |