Auks
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of over 200 auk (Alcidae) specimens, including a great auk, little auks, guillemots, razorbills and puffins. These date from about 1830 to 2005.
This collection contains at least 75 mounted specimens, 80 skins, a few parts (heads, feet and wings) and 17 skulls and skeletons. There are many eggs (mainly of guillemots), and plaster casts of great auk eggs. Some notebooks relating to the eggs, notably from John Mitchell Douglas Mackenzie, also form part of this collection. Nearly all the specimens in the collection are from Scotland, including one recorded specimen of Brunnich’s guillemot found at Aberlady Nature Reserve, East Lothian in 1980. Other regions represented include Northumberland, the Faroe Islands, and North Africa.
The highlight of the collection is undoubtedly the extinct great auk, once owned by the University of Durham. It is one of only 78 skins in existence and is said by many to be one of the best mounted specimens there is. A large file of information relating to the great auk supplements this specimen. The great auk was hunted to extinction in the 1800s. Humans exploited them for their feathers, meat, fat, and oil.
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