The Great Auk
 First-edition cover | |
| Author | Tim Birkhead |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bruce Pearson |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Great auk |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Sigma |
| Publication date | 13 March 2025 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print, e-book and audiobook |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 978-1-3994-1574-3 |
The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife is a 2025 natural history book by British ornithologist and evolutionary biologist Tim Birkhead. Published by Bloomsbury Sigma, it examines the biology of the extinct great auk, the human exploitation that caused its extinction, and the subsequent history of its surviving skins, eggs and other remains.[1]
Background and publication
Birkhead began studying common guillemots on Skomer Island as a doctoral student in 1973. His 1976 DPhil thesis examined their breeding biology and survival, and the research subsequently developed into a fifty-year study of the island's guillemot population.[2][3]
Before writing the book, Birkhead had also published research on the likely development of great auk chicks and on the species' incubation biology.[4][5]
According to Oliver Southall in The Spectator, Birkhead's unexpected encounter with one of the great auk eggs formerly owned by aviator and egg collector Vivian Hewitt helped provide the impetus for the book. Hewitt had assembled thirteen great auk eggs and four mounted skins, and the later fate of his collection became one of the book's principal subjects.[6]
The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Sigma on 13 March 2025. A paperback edition was published on 18 June 2026.[1][7]
Contents
The book is divided into two principal parts, entitled "Life" and "Afterlife". The first reconstructs the great auk's ecology, breeding behaviour and development, drawing comparisons with living members of the auk family such as guillemots and razorbills. It then traces human exploitation of the species, from prehistoric hunting to commercial slaughter at breeding colonies such as Funk Island, and the killing of the last known breeding pair on Eldey in Iceland.[8]
The second part examines the history of the surviving eggs, skins, skeletons and preserved organs after the species became extinct. Much of this section concerns Hewitt's collection and the later sale, dispersal and disappearance of some of its specimens. The final chapters consider what museum remains and genetic research can reveal about the species, as well as reported sightings after 1844, the prospects and limitations of de-extinction, and the wider conservation lessons of the great auk's disappearance.[8]
Reception
The book received generally favourable reviews. The Daily Telegraph described it as "mesmerising" and praised Birkhead as both an enthusiast and an authority on his subject.[9]
Writing in The Spectator, Southall called the book "lively and meticulous". He highlighted its account of the commercial destruction of the species, the scientific pursuit of its final specimens and the later fascination exerted by its surviving remains.[6]
Jon Carter of the British Trust for Ornithology praised Birkhead's writing as accessible and informative. Carter particularly noted the book's combination of the species' biology and extinction with the sometimes unusual history of its eggs, skins and other remains.[10]
Writing for the BirdGuides website, Josh Jones praised the book's clarity and readability, concluding: "Quite simply, it is one of the best natural history books I have read in some time."[11]
Publishers Weekly called the book a "fascinating study", praising Birkhead's reconstruction of the species' probable behaviour and his discussion of what genetic analysis of preserved remains has revealed. The review described the book's account of human responsibility for the extinction as a warning about humanity's obligations towards the natural world.[12]
The book also received an academic review in the ornithological journal Waterbirds.[13]
References
- 1 2 "The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Birkhead, Tim (1976). Breeding biology and survival of guillemots (Uria aalge) (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. doi:10.5287/ora-6ry2raq5b.
- ↑ "Scientist's 50-year study reveals climate change and avian flu impact on UK seabirds". University of Sheffield. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Birkhead, Tim (2021). "The chick-rearing period of the Great Auk: a mystery solved". British Birds. 114: 27–30. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Birkhead, Tim R.; Fiebig, Jürgen; Montgomerie, Robert; Schulze-Hagen, Karl (2022). "The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) had two brood patches, not one: confirmation and implications". Ibis. 164 (2): 494–504. doi:10.1111/ibi.13019.
- 1 2 Southall, Oliver (8 March 2025). "Butchered for feather beds: the brutal end of the great auk". The Spectator. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ "The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- 1 2 Birkhead, Tim (2025). The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife. London: Bloomsbury Sigma. ISBN 978-1-3994-1574-3.
- ↑ "The Great Auk by Tim Birkhead, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Carter, Jon (2 April 2025). "The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife". British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Jones, Josh (16 September 2025). "The Great Auk". BirdGuides. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife". Publishers Weekly. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ "Review of The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife". Waterbirds. 49 (1). 2026. doi:10.1675/063.049.0102.
External links
- The Great Auk at Bloomsbury Publishing