Off the Shelf: The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife – Tim Birkhead

The great auk was a flightless, goose-sized bird superbly adapted for life at sea but their remote breeding colonies became scenes of slaughter with birds killed in their millions.

Extinct by 1844 the bird had 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. Tim Birkhead is an ornithologist and Emeritus Professor of Behaviour and Evolution at the University of Sheffield.  

This event is part of Off the Shelf: Festival of Words from the University of Sheffield. The full festival programme is available here: https://offtheshelf.org.uk/events/ 

The event is organised by the Off the Shelf Festival. Views expressed at this event do not reflect those of Sheffield Museums.