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. (They are sometimes humorously cited as the explanation why penguins do not exist in the Northern Hemisphere.)
In contrast to penguins, auks are able to fly (with the exception of the 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. Only for breeding do they go ashore. Most species breed at steep cliffs, often together with gulls, petrels and gannets, or amongst boulders.
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.
Auk accordingly altered course at 0905 and plunged through the rough seas and a veritable curtain of fog, while her foghorn blared its warning.
Auk returned to the minefields soon thereafter and teamed with Oriole to conduct a sweep on the afternoon of the 14th.
Underway from Kirkwall on 1 October, Auk reached Plymouth, England, on the 5th, and underwent voyage repairs there until the 16th, when she left the British Isles and headed for the coast of France, reaching Brest on the morning of the 17th.
The least auklet (about 6 1/2 in./16.3 cm), common in the Bering Sea region, is the smallest of the family, and the razor-billed auk, Alca torda (16–18 in./40–45 cm), is the largest surviving member.
Auks return to the same breeding grounds every year, and each individual goes to the very same nesting site.
Auks are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Charadriiformes, family Alcidae.
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