Tim Birkhead FRS is emeritus professor of behaviour and evolution at the University of Sheffield. His research on promiscuity and sperm competition in birds re-shaped our understanding of bird mating systems. He has also maintained – through Crowd Funding —a long-term study of guillemots on Skomer Island, Wales.

Aitche is for Auk: the Life and Afterlife of the Great Auk

Fifty years of studying auks on various offshore islands has allowed me to reconstruct the life of ultimate auk: the great auk — the most iconic of extinct birds. No ornithologist ever saw one alive and our ability to evaluate the great auk’s life rests on its extraordinary afterlife. All that remains of the great auk are a few empty eggshells, skeletons and mounted specimens, preserved for posterity by a succession of obsessive collectors. Not only do these relics tell a fascinating story, they also provide a poignant reminder of what we have lost and what we may yet still lose.