Great Auk Tie

The Great Auk was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It bred on rocky, isolated islands with easy access to both the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the auks, who foraged in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as the New England region and northern Spain through Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. Humans had hunted the Great Auk for more than 100,000 years. Early European explorers to the Americas used the auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor which largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Scientists soon began to realize that the Great Auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but this proved not to be enough. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. This trend eliminated the last known breeding attempt, and the last certain record, of the Great Auks on 3 July 1844 on Eldey, Iceland, but there are unconfirmed later reports of roaming individuals been seen or caught. A record of a bird in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of this species. (Adapted from Wikipedia)