Carolyn Waudby’s poem evoking the killing of the last recorded great auk in Britain took flight once again at a talk for the Hunter Archaeological Society in Sheffield.

The talk was delivered by author and ornithologist emeritus Professor Tim Birkhead, who is an expert on the extinct great auk. Prof. Birkhead made contact with Carolyn after hearing her reading of the poem Incident At St. Kilda at the Garefowl gig earlier in 2025.

The poem is written in the voice of the bird itself, which the Hebridean islanders believed was a witch. Afterwards, members of the Sheffield audience described how the poetry “took them right there”.

Prof. Birkhead outlined the unique characteristics of the large seabird, also known as a Garefowl, which led to it becoming an easy target for humans to kill for meat, sport and feathers.

The fact the bird laid only one egg per year made it particularly vulnerable. The eggs themselves, prized for their beauty, became collectors’ items, sparking a black market.

Tim Birkhead’s book The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife is published by Bloomsbury.