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 35–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Parakeet auklets (Aethia psittacula)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Clade:	Pan-Alcidae
Family:	Alcidae Leach, 1820
Type species
Alca torda Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies
Alcinae Leach, 1820 Fraterculinae Strauch, 1985

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]

• Aethia
• Alca
• Alle
• Brachyramphus
• Cepphus
• Cerorhinca
• Fratercula
• Pinguinus (dead)
• Ptychoramphus
• Synthliboramphus
• Uria