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The Great Auk by Tim Birkhead (Hardback)
£20.00
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781399415743
Published:
13 Mar 2025
Format:
Hardback
Number of pages:
288 pages
Dimensions:
234x153x25mm
Weight:
0.454kgs
Author:
Since 1950 more than 70% of the world's seabirds have been lost through human activity. The great auk was the first species to go. A goose-sized seabird superbly adapted for underwater flight, their lives were idyllic prior to the appearance of humans: three months ashore to breed, the rest of the time riding the ocean waves. This book details the life, death and afterlife of one of the true icons of extinction.
The life, death and afterlife of one of the true icons of extinction, the Great Auk
The great auk was a flightless, goose-sized bird superbly adapted for life at sea. Fat, flush with feathers and easy to capture, the birds were in big trouble whenever sailors visited their once-remote breeding colonies. Places like Funk Island, off north-east Newfoundland, became scenes of unimaginable slaughter, with birds killed in their millions. By 1800 the auks of Funk Island were gone. A scramble by private collectors for specimens of the final few birds then began a bloody, unthinking destruction of one of the world's most extraordinary species.
But their extinction in 1844 wasn't the end of the great auk story, as the bird went on to have a remarkable afterlife; skins, eggs and skeletons became the focus for dozens of collectors in a story of pathological craving and unscrupulous dealings that goes on to this day.
In a book rich with insight and packed with tales of birds and of people, Tim Birkhead reveals previously unimagined aspects of the bird's life before humanity, its death on the killing shores of the North Atlantic, and the unrelenting subsequent quest for its remains.
The great auk remains a symbol of human folly and the necessity of conservation. This book tells its story.
About the Author: Tim Birkhead FRS is an author and biologist, emeritus Professor of Behaviour and Evolution at the University of Sheffield, one of Britain's foremost ornithologists, and a leading light in popular science communication. His professional interests span ornithology, evolution and reproductive biology, as well as the history of science. He is known for his work on both the mating systems of birds and the history of ornithology. He has also led one of the world's best-known long-term research projects, studying the biology and population dynamics of Britain's auks and other seabirds.Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004, Tim's awards include the Elliot Coues Medal for outstanding contributions to ornithological research, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour medal, the BOU's Godman-Salvin Medal, for distinguished ornithological work, the Zoological Society of London's Silver Medal, and the Stephen Jay Gould Prize. Tim has written or edited 15 books, including four popular science titles published by Bloomsbury - The Wisdom of Birds (2008), Bird Sense (2012), The Most Perfect Thing (2017) and The Wonderful Mr Willughby (Bloomsbury 2018), with his latest work devoted to the life and afterlife of a true icon of extinction, The Great Auk (2024).
| Number of pages | 288 |
|---|
We will despatch your order as quickly as we can. If, for whatever reason, a product is out of stock we will contact you to discuss the likely delivery time or an alternative product.
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| EU | £15.00 | £30.00 |
| USA & Canada | £30.00 | £50.00 |
| Rest of the World | £45.00 | £60.00 |
| Collect in Store | free | free |
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