the great auk was covered in black feathers, but had white feathers on its chest and abdomen. it had very short wings, like stubs, which meant it could not fly. on land it stood upright and was about 75 cm tall. they spent most of their time at sea, coming to shore in the summer to breed. they lived in large breeding colonies on low rocky islands in the north atlantic ocean from canada to norway. females laid one egg on bare rock. in winter they went as far south as florida and southern spain.