Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player
 

  • Nederlands
  • Deutsch
Search in the Encyclopedia

Dieren en planten

Auk species   Guillemot   Little auk   Marine fauna   Seabirds   Oil victims   Swimming birds   

Little auk

size:

length: 17-19 centimeters
wingspan: 40-48 centimeters

weight:

170 grams

color:

black and white

food:

mostly zooplankton, sometimes small fish

movement:

swimming, flying and walking

reproduction:

number of eggs per nest: 1

  • Dut: Kleine Alk
  • Eng: Little Auk
  • Fren: Mergule nain
  • Ger: Krabbentaucher
  • Ital: Gazza marina minore
  • Nor: Alkekonge
  • Lat: Alle alle
print print
Little auk, Ecomare

Little auk

Little auks float on the waves as chubby fishnet bobbers. They often spend days in the same place, such as a harbor. Yet it's not usually that easy to spot little auks. They often live far out at sea. The best chance of seeing one is after a major western November storm. The starling-sized birds are then blown towards the coast. After such a storm, they are even found on the mainland, in the strangest places: in a woods or in the middle of a city. On 23 October 2005, all records were broken when 3287 little auks were counted on Schiermonnikoog in just 9 hours.

  • Distribution and habitat

    Little auks nest in colonies on rocky slopes on Spitsbergen and Greenland. In the winter, they swim in open sea, usually in the northern North Sea, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat. Around 30% of the European population can be found there.