AUK
(awk)
Black-and-white
diving birds of the northern seas Common
clues: Razor-billed bird; Arctic bird; Northern
shorebird; Diving seabird; Black and white diver; Dovekie;
Puffin's cousin Crossword
puzzle frequency:
2 times a year Frequency
in English language:
50385 / 86800 Video: Little
Auks and Arctic Foxes
Auks
are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes.
They are superficially similar to penguins due to their
black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their
habits. Nevertheless they are not related to the penguins at all,
but considered by some to be a product of moderate convergent
evolution.
In
contrast to penguins, the modern auks are able to fly (with the
exception of the recently extinct Great Auk). They are good
swimmers and divers, but their walking appears clumsy. Due to
their short wings auks have to flap their wings very fast in
order to fly.
Auks
live on the open sea and only go ashore for breeding, although
some species, like the Common Guillemot, spend a great part of
the year defending their nesting spot from others.
Several
species have different names in Europe and North America. The
guillemots of Europe are murres in North America, if they occur
in both continents, and the Little Auk becomes the Dovekie.
Some
species, such as the Uria guillemots, nest in large colonies on
cliff edges; others, like the Cepphus guillemots, breed in small
groups on rocky coasts; and the puffins, auklets and some
murrelets nest in burrows. All species except the Brachyramphus
murrelets are colonial.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Auk".
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