89-489: Funk Island is a small, barren, isolated, uninhabited island approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) northeast of Musgrave Harbour , Newfoundland , Canada . The island is roughly trapezoidal in shape, with a maximum length of 0.8 km (½ mile) and a maximum width of 0.3 km (300 yards) and is nearly flat, rising 14 metres (45') out of the North Atlantic . The island is composed of feldspathic granite and
178-595: A 1775 law banning hunting the great auk for its feathers or eggs were publicly flogged , though hunting for use as fishing bait was still permitted. On the North American side, eider down initially was preferred, but once the eiders were nearly driven to extinction in the 1770s, down collectors switched to the great auk at the same time that hunting for food, fishing bait, and oil decreased. The great auk had disappeared from Funk Island by 1800. An account by Aaron Thomas of HMS Boston from 1794 described how
267-649: A detailed collection of facts relating to the extinct bird that covered five geographical regions, including prehistoric kitchen middens of Caithness . The most successful of the early scientific expeditions to Funk Island occurred in 1887. It was sponsored by the United States Fish Commission and was under the direction of Frederick A. Lucas . After a brief sojourn in St. John's, the group's ship, Grampus , arrived at Funk Island on July 22, 1887. They found in their search area, roughly one quarter of
356-486: 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
445-399: A grey line ran through the eyes (which still had white eye rings) to just below the ears. Great Auk calls included low croaking and a hoarse scream. A captive great auk was observed making a gurgling noise when anxious. It is not known what its other vocalizations were, but it is believed that they were similar to those of the razorbill , only louder and deeper. The great auk was found in
534-446: A hazardous landing and in only the one hour that was allowed by the dangerous tides and high waves surrounding the island, Milne discovered in a small, grassy hollow, the skeletal remains of no fewer than fifty birds. Some of them exceeded in size any that had before been known. His collection of great auk skeletons subsequently found its way into various public museums. In a scientific paper he wrote in 1875 describing his trip he included
623-434: A large storm arose. Believing that the bird was a witch and was causing the storm, they then killed it by beating it with a stick. The last colony of great auks lived on Geirfuglasker (the "Great Auk Rock") off Iceland. This islet was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs that made it inaccessible to humans, but in 1830, the islet submerged after a volcanic eruption, and the birds moved to the nearby island of Eldey , which
712-567: A man ... but moved its feet quickly. [I] caught it close to the edge – a precipice many fathoms deep. Its wings lay close to the sides – not hanging out. I took him by the neck and he flapped his wings. He made no cry. I strangled him. A later claim of a live individual sighted in 1852 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland has been accepted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. There
801-654: A scientific nature occurred in 1863, when Thomas Molloy , the United States Consul to Newfoundland, received permission from the Government of Newfoundland to go to the Funk Island to mine remains of the great auk. Thirty-five tons of the decomposed organic material was secured by Molloy's expedition. Of these five tons was sold locally at nineteen dollars a ton while the other thirty tons was shipped to Boston , Baltimore and Washington D.C. , where it
890-511: A seal. Its ability to dive so deeply reduced competition with other alcid species. The great auk was capable of accelerating underwater, and then shooting out of the water to land on a rocky ledge above the ocean's surface. This alcid typically fed in shoaling waters that were shallower than those frequented by other alcids, although after the breeding season, they had been sighted as far as 500 km (270 nmi) from land. They are believed to have fed cooperatively in flocks. Their main food
979-438: A valued food source, as the eggs were three times the size of a murre 's and had a large yolk. These sailors also introduced rats onto the islands which preyed upon nests. The Little Ice Age may have reduced the population of the great auk by exposing more of their breeding islands to predation by polar bears, but massive exploitation by humans for their down drastically reduced the population, with recent evidence indicating
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#17327983600911068-470: Is a Latin derivative of the Scandinavian word for razorbills and their relatives. The bird was known in literature even before this and was described by Charles d'Ecluse in 1605 as Mergus Americanus. This also included a woodcut which represents the oldest unambiguous visual depictions of the bird. The species was not placed in its own scientific genus , Pinguinus , until 1791. The generic name
1157-536: Is a fishing community that was originally named Muddy Hole . The name was changed in 1886 in honour of Governor Anthony Musgrave . It was visited as early as the 18th century by Europeans. For example, George Skeffington from Bonavista was given salmon fishing rights there in 1723. In the 19th century the migratory fishery took place between Musgrave Harbour and Cape Freels and eventually permanent settlement began. The first family to settle in Musgrave Harbour
1246-494: Is a sightworthy church in the centre of Musgrave Harbour. The War Memorial in front of the post office is worth a look as well. Important early architect William Tuff Whiteway came from Musgrave Harbour. The first school in Musgrave Harbour was established in 1852 with Charles Harris as the teacher. It was built by the people for the Wesleyan School Society, it opened in 1852 with about 36 children. The school
1335-508: Is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species. The great auk is mentioned in several novels, and the scientific journal of the American Ornithological Society was named The Auk (now Ornithology ) in honor of the bird until 2021. Analysis of mtDNA sequences has confirmed morphological and biogeographical studies suggesting that the razorbill is the closest living relative of
1424-456: Is derived from the Spanish, Portuguese, and French name for the species, in turn from Latin pinguis meaning "plump", and the specific name , impennis , is from Latin and refers to the lack of flight feathers , or pennae . The Irish name for the great auk is falcóg mhór , meaning "big seabird/auk". The Basque name is arponaz , meaning "spearbill". Its early French name
1513-485: Is extremely difficult and dangerous, though in calm weather there are three points where a safe landing can be effected. Gannet Head, the southwestern corner of the island, and Landing Rock, just north of Gannet Head, are two such places. On the north side, approximately 0.17 km (190 yards) west of Escape Point, the easternmost tip of the island, there is a steep cliff. Set in the cliff is a natural shelf, called The Bench, approximately 1.2 metres (4') wide, which slopes up
1602-403: Is not well known and difficult to reconstruct. Much may be inferred from its close, living relative, the razorbill , as well as from remaining soft tissue. Great auks walked slowly and sometimes used their wings to help them traverse rough terrain. When they did run, it was awkwardly and with short steps in a straight line. They had few natural predators, mainly large marine mammals , such as
1691-566: Is on the Kittiwake Coast near the Town of Gander . In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Musgrave Harbour had a population of 946 living in 413 of its 486 total private dwellings, a change of -4.4% from its 2016 population of 990 . With a land area of 67.3 km (26.0 sq mi), it had a population density of 14.1/km (36.4/sq mi) in 2021. The earliest people in Musgrave Harbour were of
1780-422: Is thought to have been given to the island because of the foul odour which predominates there. The smell arises from the nitrate and phosphate concentrations found in the guano deposited by the many millions of birds which have nested there over the centuries. However, an alternative theory suggests that the name may be traced to a Norse or Icelandic word for a haycock which the island resembles. Before
1869-466: Is traversed by two distinct fault lines which cross the island in a northwesterly direction, almost parallel to each other. The fault lines divide the island into three separate entities. The northeastern portion consists mainly of bare rock; the central portion has scattered vegetation; and the largest portion of the island, the southwestern, which occupies over half of the land surface, is covered with grasses, lichens and mosses . Landing on Funk Island
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#17327983600911958-554: The American Heritage Dictionary suggests the word "penguin", which may be derived from the Breton language penn gwenn meaning "white head", originated with the name of the island and subsequently become a synonym for "great auk". Bretons were settled in the near area of 'Terra de Bretones', mentioned on Verrazzano's map with their Ermins coat-of-arms. It is believed that Funk Island was visited shortly after
2047-617: The Maritime Archaic site at Port au Choix , Newfoundland , dating to about 2000 BC, was found surrounded by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are believed to have been part of a suit made from their skins, with the heads left attached as decoration. Nearly half of the bird bones found in graves at this site were of the great auk, suggesting that it had great cultural significance for the Maritime Archaic people. The extinct Beothuks of Newfoundland made pudding out of
2136-690: The Orkney Islands , St. Kilda off Scotland, Grimsey Island , Eldey Island , Geirfuglasker near Iceland, Funk Island near Newfoundland , and the Bird Rocks (Rochers-aux-Oiseaux) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence . Records suggest that this species may have bred on Cape Cod in Massachusetts . By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the breeding range of the great auk was restricted to Funk Island, Grimsey Island, Eldey Island,
2225-586: The orca , and white-tailed eagles . Polar bears preyed on nesting colonies of the great auk. Based on observations by the Naturalist Otto Fabricius (the only scientist to make primary observations on the great auk), some auks were "stupid and tame" whilst others were difficult to approach which he suggested was related to the bird's age. Humans preyed upon them as food, for feathers, and as specimens for museums and private collections. Great auks reacted to noises but were rarely frightened by
2314-497: The penguin or garefowl , is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus . It is 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
2403-810: The 18th century, the island was referred to by sailors as Penguin Island or Island of the Birds, although the former name was also sometimes used to describe other islands off Newfoundland's coast (such as Fogo Island or the Penguin Islands ). Gaspar Corte-Real visited Newfoundland in 1501, and shortly after that date Funk Island appears on two maps by Pedro Reinel as Y Dos Saues (1504) and Ylhas das aves (1520), both of which refer to an island of birds. Richard Hakluyt , in The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of
2492-648: The British Isles in Europe. For their nesting colonies the great auks required rocky islands with sloping shorelines that provided access to the sea. These were very limiting requirements and it is believed that the great auk never had more than 20 breeding colonies. The nesting sites also needed to be close to rich feeding areas and to be far enough from the mainland to discourage visitation by predators such as humans and polar bears . The localities of only seven former breeding colonies are known: Papa Westray in
2581-494: The Church of England; however, settlers from Bonavista introduced Methodism to Musgrave Harbour. A Wesleyan school opened in 1853, it was closed in 1862 and then reopened in 1865 by John Wheeler. A full-time minister was appointed to Musgrave Harbour in 1874. Doting Cove, Ragged Harbour, and Musgrave Harbour had a combined population of more than 500 by 1884, and almost all were Methodist. The first resident minister in Musgrave Harbour
2670-654: The English Nation chronicled the 1536 voyage of Richard Hore which made landfall on the Island of Penguin. A 1626 map by Pierre Mortier labels the place I des Penguins , while an Italian map dated 1661 has the island marked as I Penguin Abonda di Vecelli (Penguin Island abounding with birds). One of the earliest British maps by cartographer Herman Moll , dated 1716, refers to it as Penguin Island. The name Funk Island appears on James Cook 's 1775 map as it does in
2759-490: The Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the St. Kilda islands. Funk Island was the largest known breeding colony. After the chicks fledged, the great auk migrated north and south away from the breeding colonies and they tended to go southward during late autumn and winter. The great auk was never observed and described by modern scientists during its existence and is only known from the accounts of laymen, such as sailors, so its behaviour
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2848-457: The Pliocene, the great auk took over its territory. The great auk was not related closely to the other extinct genera of flightless alcids, Mancalla , Praemancalla , and Alcodes . The great auk was one of the 4,400 animal species formally described by Carl Linnaeus in his eighteenth-century work Systema Naturae , in which it was given the binomial Alca impennis . The name Alca
2937-407: The base of cliffs in colonies, likely where they copulated. Mated pairs had a social display in which they bobbed their heads and displayed their white eye patch, bill markings, and yellow mouth. These colonies were extremely crowded and dense, with some estimates stating that there was a nesting great auk for every 1 square metre (11 sq ft) of land. These colonies were very social. When
3026-436: 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
3115-465: The bird had been slaughtered systematically until then: If you come for their Feathers you do not give yourself the trouble of killing them, but lay hold of one and pluck the best of the Feathers. You then turn the poor Penguin adrift, with his skin half naked and torn off, to perish at his leisure. This is not a very humane method but it is the common practice. While you abide on this island you are in
3204-495: The charts and surveys compiled in 1765. According to the book Pioneers in Canada (Blackie and Sons 1912) Jacques Cartier in 1534 commented on the great number of birds and the presence of a polar bear on Funk Island. Funk Island was probably called Penguin Island because the great auk used to nest on this island by thousands, and possibly tens of thousands, up to the late 18th century when its numbers declined drastically. However,
3293-406: The cliff face which allow relatively easy access to the surface. The cold Labrador Current provides good breeding ground for cold water fish which in turn support the large breeding seabird population of the island. At high tide the seas break widely against the cliffs and in particularly high seas waves break over the island. There are two large rock bunkers which lie off the southwest side of
3382-573: The coast of Newfoundland. "Towards the end of a long transatlantic journey, when provisions were running low, fresh meat was prized, and the ease with which auks could be picked off the slab [Funk Island] was soon noted." Many explorers and fishing nations made trips to the Funks to acquire seabirds for food and oil for their lamps. The great auks were flightless birds that were an easy prey. In 1578, 350 Spanish and French vessels and fifty English vessels were reported fishing nearby. Later settlers along
3471-613: The cold North Atlantic coastal waters along the coasts of Canada, the northeastern United States, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands , Ireland, Great Britain, France, and the Iberian Peninsula . Pleistocene fossils indicate the great auk also inhabited Southern France , Italy , and other coasts of the Mediterranean basin. It was common on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland . In recorded history,
3560-419: The colonies included other species of alcid, the great auks were dominant due to their size. Female great auks would lay only one egg each year, between late May and early June, although they could lay a replacement egg if the first one was lost. In years when there was a shortage of food, the great auks did not breed. A single egg was laid on bare ground up to 100 metres (330 ft) from shore. The egg
3649-406: The constant practice of horrid cruelties for you not only skin them Alive, but you burn them Alive also to cook their Bodies with. You take a kettle with you into which you put a Penguin or two, you kindle a fire under it, and this fire is made of the unfortunate Penguins themselves. Their bodies being oily soon produce a Flame; there is no wood on the island. With its increasing rarity, specimens of
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3738-730: The eastern Atlantic, the southernmost records of this species are two isolated bones, one from Madeira and another from the Neolithic site of El Harhoura 2 in Morocco . The great auk left the North Atlantic waters for land only to breed, even roosting at sea when not breeding. The rookeries of the great auk were found from Baffin Bay to the Gulf of St. Lawrence , across the far northern Atlantic, including Iceland, and in Norway and
3827-467: The eggs of the great auk. The Dorset Eskimos also hunted it. The Saqqaq in Greenland overhunted the species, causing a local reduction in range. Later, European sailors used the great auks as a navigational beacon, as the presence of these birds signaled that the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were near. This species is estimated to have had a maximum population in the millions. The great auk
3916-506: The eggs without embryos and typically, discarded the eggs with embryos growing inside of them. On the islet of Stac an Armin , St. Kilda, Scotland , in July 1840, the last great auk seen in Britain was caught and killed. Three men from St. Kilda caught a single "garefowl", noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days until
4005-574: The etymology is debated, the generic name "penguin" may be derived from the Welsh pen gwyn "white head", either because the birds lived in New Brunswick on White Head Island (Pen Gwyn in Welsh) or because the great auk had such large white circles on its head. When European explorers discovered what today are known as penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to
4094-519: The first native peoples settled in northeastern Newfoundland . Joseph Banks , who visited Newfoundland and Labrador in 1766, told of a type of pudding the Beothuk people made from eggs which had been collected from Penguin (Funk) Island. In earlier times, the great auk was also known as the garefowl, from the Norse, "geirfugl". In the early 16th century, Europeans were drawn to the codfish schools off
4183-667: The following day after a plane crash near Musgrave Harbour. The Hudson Bomber , with crew Captain Joseph Mackey , co-pilot William Snailham, and navigator William Bird, were en route to England when they had engine trouble just after leaving Gander. They attempted to return to Gander, but didn't make it. Captain Joseph Mackey was the only survivor. Musgrave Harbour is in Newfoundland within Division No. 8 . It
4272-587: The great auk also were carved into the walls of the El Pendo Cave in Camargo, Spain , and Paglicci , Italy, more than 35,000 years ago, and cave paintings 20,000 years old have been found in France's Grotte Cosquer . Native Americans valued the great auk as a food source during the winter and as an important cultural symbol. Images of the great auk have been found in bone necklaces. A person buried at
4361-431: The great auk and its eggs became collectible and highly prized by rich Europeans, and the loss of a large number of its eggs to collection contributed to the demise of the species. Eggers, individuals who visited the nesting sites of the great auk to collect their eggs, quickly realized that the birds did not all lay their eggs on the same day, so they could make return visits to the same breeding colony. Eggers only collected
4450-406: The great auk and named them after this bird, although biologically, they are not closely related. Whalers also lumped the northern and southern birds together under the common name "woggins". Standing about 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) tall and weighing approximately 5 kilograms (11 lb) as adult birds, the flightless great auk was the second-largest member of both its family and
4539-431: The great auk are believed to have eaten plankton and, possibly, fish and crustaceans regurgitated by adults. Historical descriptions of the great auk breeding behaviour are somewhat unreliable. Great Auks began pairing in early and mid-May. They are believed to have mated for life (although some theorize that great auks could have mated outside their pair, a trait seen in the razorbill). Once paired, they nested at
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#17327983600914628-473: The great auk typically did not go farther south than Massachusetts Bay in the winter. Great auk bones have been found as far south as Florida , where it may have been present during four periods: approximately 1000 BC and 1000 AD, as well as during the fifteenth century and the seventeenth century. It has been suggested that some of the bones discovered in Florida may be the result of aboriginal trading. In
4717-432: The great auk. The great auk also was related closely to the little auk or dovekie, which underwent a radically different evolution compared to Pinguinus . Due to its outward similarity to the razorbill (apart from flightlessness and size), the great auk often was placed in the genus Alca , following Linnaeus. The fossil record (especially the sister species , Pinguinus alfrednewtoni ) and molecular evidence show that
4806-406: The head was held up but the neck was drawn in. This species was capable of banking, veering, and turning underwater. The great auk was known to dive to depths of 75 m (250 ft) and it has been claimed that the species was able to dive to depths of 1 km (3,300 ft; 550 fathoms). To conserve energy, most dives were shallow. It also could hold its breath for 15 minutes, longer than
4895-463: 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 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be
4984-405: The island became a Provincial Wildlife Sanctuary and landing there was prohibited without a permit. With the creation of the sanctuary, the bird population began to be protected and is now monitored by researchers at Memorial University and Environment and Climate Change Canada Eleven marine bird species have been known to breed on Funk Island. In 1972 the largest population on the Funk Island
5073-440: The island they also discovered several iron kettles, rusted and broken, which were believed to have been used to scald the bodies of the great auks to make removal of the feathers easier. Near the western edge of the auks' breeding grounds they discovered enclosures made of granite blocks. The Auks had been herded into these compounds to make slaughtering easier. There have been many other expeditions since, right up to 1982. In 1964
5162-415: The island. The two bunkers are washed over by the sea, and provide roosting but not nesting areas for many of the seabirds, particularly the gannets. The island and the bunkers make up what is known as the "Funks." There are no navigational aids or lighthouses on the island despite the number of shipwrecks and the loss of life which have occurred in the area. The name Funk, which means evil odour or vapour,
5251-417: The journey home, and therefore, used great auks as both a convenient food source and bait for fishing. Reportedly, some of the later vessels anchored next to a colony and ran out of planks to the land. The sailors then herded hundreds of great auks onto the ships, where they were slaughtered. Some authors have questioned the reports of this hunting method and whether it was successful. Great auk eggs were also
5340-417: The land surface of the island was covered with between 0.6 and 1.2 metres (2' to 4') of earth. The earth contained egg shells mixed with granite pebbles in depths ranging from 5 to 30 cm (2" to 12"). Many more skeletons were unearthed and taken away for other scientific study. This expedition did other scientific work on Funk Island, including the collection of rock specimens. During their search of
5429-545: The latter alone is likely the primary driver of its extinction. By the mid-sixteenth century, the nesting colonies along the European side of the Atlantic were nearly all eliminated by humans killing this bird for its down, which was used to make pillows. In 1553, the great auk received its first official protection. In 1794, Great Britain banned the killing of this species for its feathers. In St. John's , those violating
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#17327983600915518-464: The men who had killed the last birds, were interviewed by great auk specialist John Wolley , and Sigurður described the act as follows: The rocks were covered with blackbirds [ guillemots ] and there were the Geirfugles ;... They walked slowly. Jón Brandsson crept up with his arms open. The bird that Jón got went into a corner but [mine] was going to the edge of the cliff. It walked like
5607-465: The modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall (the prehistoric Miomancalla was larger). It had a black back and a white belly. 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
5696-440: The nest and land for the water, typically around the middle of July. The parents cared for their young after they fledged, and adults would be seen swimming with their young perched on their backs. Great auks matured sexually when they were four to seven years old. The great auk was a food source for Neanderthals more than 100,000 years ago, as evidenced by well-cleaned bones found by their campfires. Images believed to depict
5785-428: The northeast coast of Newfoundland often made the short trip to the Funks to kill birds for food and lamp oil; they also used the feathers for pillows and mattresses and gathered the eggs for food. In 1622 Sir Richard Whitbourne told of how the birds were driven up the gang planks into the boats. He remarked that it was "as if God had made the innocency of so poore a creature to become such an admirable instrument for
5874-412: The order Charadriiformes overall, surpassed only by the mancalline Miomancalla . It is, however, the largest species to survive into modern times. The great auks that lived farther north averaged larger than the more southerly members of the species. Males and females were similar in plumage, although there is evidence for differences in size, particularly in the bill and femur length. The back
5963-457: The remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great 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 that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Around the same time, nations such as Great Britain began to realize that the great auk
6052-463: The sight of something. They used their bills aggressively both in the dense nesting sites and when threatened or captured by humans. These birds are believed to have had a life span of approximately 20 to 25 years. During the winter, the great auk migrated south, either in pairs or in small groups, but never with the entire nesting colony. The great auk was generally an excellent swimmer, using its wings to propel itself underwater. While swimming,
6141-413: The sustenation of man." By 1800 the great auk was probably extinct on Funk Island, and by 1844, in the world. Naturalists and scientists had become interested in the plight of the great auk and by June 1841 a Norwegian naturalist, Dr. Peter Stuvitz visited Funk Island with the hope of obtaining specimens of the birds, but was forced to leave due to weather conditions on the island. The second visit of
6230-538: The three closely related genera diverged soon after their common ancestor, a bird probably similar to a stout Xantus's murrelet , had spread to the coasts of the Atlantic. Apparently, by that time, the murres, or Atlantic guillemots , already had split from the other Atlantic alcids. Razorbill-like birds were common in the Atlantic during the Pliocene , but the evolution of the little auk is sparsely documented. The molecular data are compatible with either possibility, but
6319-406: The top; the bill also had deep white grooves in both the upper and lower mandibles, up to seven on the upper mandible and twelve on the lower mandible in summer, although there were fewer in winter. The wings were only 15 cm (6 in) in length and the longest wing feathers were only 10 cm (4 in) long. Its feet and short claws were black, while the webbed skin between the toes
6408-454: The vast colony. The pair took turns incubating the egg in an upright position for the 39 to 44 days before the egg hatched, typically in June, although eggs could be present at the colonies as late as August. The parents also took turns feeding their chicks. According to one account, the chick was covered with grey down. The young bird took only two or three weeks to mature enough to abandon
6497-797: The weight of evidence suggests placing the great auk in a distinct genus. Some ornithologists still believe it is more appropriate to retain the species in the genus Alca . It is the only recorded British bird made extinct in historic times. The following cladogram shows the placement of the great auk among its closest relatives, based on a 2004 genetic study: Alle alle (little auk) Uria aalge (common murre) Uria lomvia (thick-billed murre) Alca torda (razorbill) Pinguinus impennis ( great auk ) Brachyramphus marmoratus (marbled murrelet) Brachyramphus brevirostris (Kittlitz's murrelet) Cepphus grylle (black guillemot) Cepphus columba (pigeon guillemot) Cepphus carbo (spectacled guillemot) Pinguinus alfrednewtoni
6586-409: Was apponatz , while modern French uses grand pingouin . The Norse called the great auk geirfugl , which means "spearbird". This has led to an alternative English common name for the bird, garefowl or gairfowl . The Inuit name for the great auk was isarukitsok , which meant "little wing". The word "penguin" first appears in the sixteenth century as a synonym for "great auk". Although
6675-471: Was John Whiteway, of Western Bay, in 1834. The 1836 Census show Whiteway's family of eleven living in "Muddy Hole" and five people living in nearby Ragged Harbour. Musgrave Harbour was the administrative and religious centre of Hamilton Sound by 1900, but due to its poor harbour it failed to be a commercial centre. When Tobias Abbott of Doting Cove introduced the gasoline engine in 1909 the Labrador fishery
6764-684: Was a larger, and also flightless, member of the genus Pinguinus that lived during the Early Pliocene . Known from bones found in the Yorktown Formation of the Lee Creek Mine in North Carolina , it is believed to have split, along with the great auk, from a common ancestor. Pinguinus alfrednewtoni lived in the western Atlantic, while the great auk lived in the eastern Atlantic. After the former died out following
6853-407: Was accessible from a single side. When the colony initially was discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins of the great auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, was killed there on 3 June 1844, on request from a merchant who wanted specimens. Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson,
6942-409: Was brownish black. The legs were far back on the bird's body, which gave it powerful swimming and diving abilities. Hatchlings were described as grey and downy, but their exact appearance is unknown since no skins exist today. Juvenile birds had fewer prominent grooves in their beaks than adults and they had mottled white and black necks, while the eye spot found in adults was not present; instead,
7031-431: Was closed in 1863 but it reopened again in 1865 with John Wheeler as the teacher, and he served for 24 years. The first female teacher was Laura Taylor in 1893. [REDACTED] Media related to Musgrave Harbour at Wikimedia Commons 49°27′00″N 53°57′30″W / 49.45000°N 53.95833°W / 49.45000; -53.95833 Great auk The great auk ( Pinguinus impennis ), also known as
7120-509: Was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but despite that, the great auk were still hunted. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining the skins and eggs of the bird. On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey , off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt. Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. A report of one great auk in 1852
7209-574: Was fish, usually 12 to 20 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 8 in) in length and weighing 40 to 50 g ( 1 + 3 ⁄ 8 to 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 oz), but occasionally their prey was up to half the bird's length. Based on remains associated with great auk bones found on Funk Island and on ecological and morphological considerations, it seems that Atlantic menhaden and capelin were their favoured prey. Other fish suggested as potential prey include lumpsuckers , shorthorn sculpins , cod , sand lance , as well as crustaceans. The young of
7298-477: Was hunted on a significant scale for food, eggs, and its down feathers from at least the eighth century. Prior to that, hunting by local natives may be documented from Late Stone Age Scandinavia and eastern North America, as well as from early fifth century Labrador , where the bird seems to have occurred only as stragglers. Early explorers, including Jacques Cartier , and numerous ships attempting to find gold on Baffin Island were not provisioned with food for
7387-432: Was ovate and elongate in shape, and it averaged 12.4 cm ( 4 + 7 ⁄ 8 in) in length and 7.6 cm (3 in) across at the widest point. The egg was yellowish white to light ochre with a varying pattern of black, brown, or greyish spots and lines that often were congregated on the large end. It is believed that the variation in the egg streaks enabled the parents to recognize their egg among those in
7476-445: Was primarily a glossy black, and the belly was white. The neck and legs were short, and the head and wings were small. During summer, it developed a wide white eye patch over each eye, which had a hazel or chestnut iris. Auks are known for their close resemblance to penguins, their webbed feet and countershading are a result of convergent evolution in the water. During winter the great auk moulted and lost this eye patch, which
7565-480: Was replaced with a wide white band and a gray line of feathers that stretched from the eye to the ear. During the summer, its chin and throat were blackish-brown and the inside of the mouth was yellow. In winter, the throat became white. Some individuals reportedly had grey plumage on their flanks, but the purpose, seasonal duration, and frequency of this variation is unknown. The bill was large at 11 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) long and curved downward at
7654-536: Was replaced with the inshore fishery. The people of Musgrave Harbour also became active in the Fisherman's Protective Union movement and the F.P.U established a local council there in 1909. In 1912 a Union Trading Co. store opened in Doting Cove. By 1911 the population was 433 in Musgrave Harbour, 458 in Doting Cove, and 49 at Ragged Harbour. In 1941 Dr. Sir Frederick Banting , co-discoverer of insulin , died
7743-527: Was that of the thin-billed or common murre, the population count was 396,461 pairs. That number accounts for 80% of the breeding population in eastern North America and makes Funk Island one of the most important of the seabird colonies in the world. In 1982 the seabird population on Funk Island was estimated at over 1,000,000 birds. Musgrave Harbour Musgrave Harbour is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . Musgrave Harbour
7832-542: Was the Rev. Henry Lewis, and the 1874 church was the first Methodist church in the Greenspond circuit. The Salvation Army came to Musgrave Harbour in the 1890s and by 1930 made up the majority of the population. The local park is named after Sir Frederick Banting, and also has an interpretation centre dedicated to Dr. Banting and the crash. The wreckage of the plane was airlifted to the park in 1990. St. Luke's United Church
7921-413: Was used to fertilize the gardens of wealthy Americans. In July 1873 seismologist and naturalist John Milne went to the island and was successful in retrieving partial skeletons and miscellaneous bones before inclement weather cut short his stay. He reported that there was an abundance of terns on Funk Island but that the murre and razorbill population had been almost destroyed by egg gatherers. In
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