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Description
Great-auk (Pinguinus impennis - Linnaeus, 1758) occurred in naturally scattered colonies across the North Atlantic until the 19th century, breeding from Canada through Greenland (to Denmark), the Faeroe Islands (to Denmark) and Iceland to Ireland and the UK, with archeological records from the western coast of Europe from European Russia south to France, and wintering offshore south to New England, USA, and southern Spain. Details of how it was driven to extinction by hunting for its feathers, meat, fat and oil are well known. As birds became more scarce, specimen collecting became the proximate cause of their extinction. The last known pair were killed on Eldey Island, Iceland, in 1844, and the last live bird was seen off the Newfoundland Banks in 1852. Historically, birds bred only on remote, rocky islands, probably due to early extirpation in more accessible sites. Birds were flightless. Immatures probably fed on plankton while adults dived for fish.

Technics used:
Pencil
Aquarelle pencils

© 2005 Rafael Silva do Nascimento. All rights reserved.

Description
Great-auk (Pinguinus impennis - Linnaeus, 1758) occurred in naturally scattered colonies across the North Atlantic until the 19th century, breeding from Canada through Greenland (to Denmark), the Faeroe Islands (to Denmark) and Iceland to Ireland and the UK, with archeological records from the western coast of Europe from European Russia south to France, and wintering offshore south to New England, USA, and southern Spain. Details of how it was driven to extinction by hunting for its feathers, meat, fat and oil are well known. As birds became more scarce, specimen collecting became the proximate cause of their extinction. The last known pair were killed on Eldey Island, Iceland, in 1844, and the last live bird was seen off the Newfoundland Banks in 1852. Historically, birds bred only on remote, rocky islands, probably due to early extirpation in more accessible sites. Birds were flightless. Immatures probably fed on plankton while adults dived for fish.

Technics used:
Pencil
Aquarelle pencils

© 2005 Rafael Silva do Nascimento. All rights reserved.