The Auk is a quarterly journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

 and the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union

American Ornithologists' Union

The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...

, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. The journal contains articles relating scientific studies of the anatomy, behavior, and distribution of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s. The journal is named for the Great Auk

Great Auk

The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca, was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean...

, the symbol of the AOU. There have been 16 editors, and it is currently headed by Michael Murphy (2010–).

Past editors are:

• Spencer G. Sealy of the University of Manitoba
  University of Manitoba
  The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
  
   2005–2009;
• Kimberly G. Smith of the University of Arkansas
  University of Arkansas
  The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
  
   2000–2004;
• Thomas E. Martin of the University of Montana 1997–1998;
• Gary D. Schnell of the University of Oklahoma
  University of Oklahoma
  The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
  
   1991–1996;
• Alan Brush of the University of Connecticut
  University of Connecticut
  The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
  
   1985–1990;
• John A. Wiens of Stony Brook University 1977–1984;
• Oliver L. Austin of the Florida Museum of Natural History
  Florida Museum of Natural History
  The Florida Museum of Natural History is the State of Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural history museum. Its main facilities are located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida....
  
   1968–1976;
• Robert M. Mengel of the University of Kansas
  University of Kansas
  The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
  
   1963–1967;
• Eugene Eisenmann of the American Museum of Natural History
  American Museum of Natural History
  The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
  
   1958–1962;
• Robert W. Storer of the University of Michigan
  University of Michigan
  The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
  
   1953–1957;
• Harvey I. Fisher of the University of Illinois 1948–1952;
• John T. Zimmer of the American Museum of Natural History
  American Museum of Natural History
  The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
  
   1942–1947;
• Glover M. Allen of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  Museum of Comparative Zoology
  The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
  
   at Harvard University
  Harvard University
  Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
  
   1937–1942;
• Witmer Stone
  Witmer Stone
  Witmer Stone was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist, and was considered one of the last of the “great naturalists.” Stone is remembered principally as an ornithologist. He was president of the American Ornithologists’ Union 1920–23, and was editor of the AOU’s periodical The...
  
   of the Academy of Natural Sciences
  Academy of Natural Sciences
  The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
  
  1912–1936;
• J. A. Allen 1884–1911

External links

• BioOne: The Auk. Vol. 117 (2000) onwards; free HTML abstracts, subscription required for PDF fulltexts. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
• The Auk. Vol. 1–118 (1884–2001) free PDF/DejaVu fulltexts. Retrieved August 12, 2008
• University of California Press Journals website The Auk