Extinct since 1844, the great auk’s afterlife has been extraordinary, and continues to be extraordinary. With so much written about this iconic bird over the past 170 years, it is hard to imagine that anything new could be discovered. But that is exactly what has happened. Great auk relics —75 eggs, 78 stuffed birds and several skeletons— continue to yield new wonders about a bird that was never seen alive by any ornithologist. In this talk I will provide an outline of the great auk’s life, and how it became extinct.  I’ll then discuss its afterlife and the way its relics have been used to fill in some of the many gaps in our knowledge.  If I was to write a book about this iconic bird, I’d entitle it Aitche is for Auk.

For over 50 years, I have studied auks —guillemots, razorbills and puffins —mainly on Skomer Island, but also in Labrador, Newfoundland and the High Arctic. During that time, I often fantasised about what it would be like to discover a hidden colony of great auks. I haven’t, but nearly as good, I have discovered much that is new about the ultimate auk. I’m often asked to name my favourite bird. It has to be the guillemot (with great auk as close second). I have spent more time with guillemots, thinking about them, watching them, and grubbing around each year since 1972 on shit-soaked ledges catching and ringing them. In between, I spent time teaching Sheffield undergraduates about ecology, evolution, and behaviour and loved (almost) every minute of it.

When I started my PhD, I had hardly seen a guillemot. So little was known about them. We didn’t even know how to count them, let alone understand their lifestyle. I quickly fell in love with the guillemot, not least because this particular bird provided a wealth of opportunities for a young biologist obsessed by promiscuity. It was assumed in the 1970s that most birds were monogamous. An undergraduate lecture on promiscuity in dung flies left me wondering whether birds were similar. I was laughed at for my naivety. But it turned out to be true, as my research and that of my colleagues subsequently showed. Although the aim of my PhD was to understand why auks were in decline, I had a free hand to do what I liked. I eventually figured out the cause of the declines (it took thirty years of research). I also found guillemots to be wonderfully promiscuous. Watching a colony of guillemots is like an endless episode of Corrie or Eastenders. As you will see, great auks were probably very similar.

I retired in 2019, but my guillemot study continues, funded by Crowd Funding. I am grateful to have finally escaped the ever-tightening noose of useless bureaucracy, but I miss my colleagues and students. I spend my time writing. During lockdown I wrote Birds and Us (Penguin/Viking 2022), and am currently working on a book on the great auk, who title I haven’t yet decided upon.

To contribute to the continued survey work of Guillemots on Skomer please visit the just giving page here

Meeting Agenda :

Intro & Announcements - Richard Hill
Main Speaker - Tim Birkhead
Recorder's Report - Ron Blagden

50th Anniversary & Xmas - Wine & Mince Pies !!