Labrador Duck
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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Labrador Duck | status = Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (c.1878) }} | image = Camptorynchus_labradoriusAEP13LA.png | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Labrador Duck from Game Birds...of Massachusetts by Edward Howe Forbush | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Anseriformes | familia = Anatidae | genus = Camptorhynchus | genus_authority = Bonaparte, 1838 | species = C. labradorius | binomial = Camptorhynchus labradorius | binomial_authority = (Gmelin, 1789) }}
The Labrador Duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius) was a striking black and white eider-like sea duck that was never known to be common, and is believed to be the first bird to go extinct in North America after 1500. The last Labrador Duck is believed to have been seen at Elmira, New York on December 12, 1878; the last preserved specimen was shot in 1875 on Long Island.
The Labrador Duck fed on small molluscs, and the structure of the bill was highly modified from that of most ducks, having a wide, flattened tip with numerous lamellae inside. In this way it is considered an ecological counterpart of the North Pacific/North Asian Steller's Eider. Another, completely unrelated, duck with similar bill morphology is the Australian Pink-eared Duck, which feeds largely on plankton, but also mollusks.
Although hunted for food, this duck was considered to taste bad and rot quickly and consequently was not sought much by hunters though it is thought that the eggs may have been over-harvested, and it may have been subject to depredations by the feather trade in its breeding area as well. It is also a possibility that they died out because of decline in or pollution of mussels and other shellfish on which they are believed to have fed. It was thought to breed in Labrador, although no nests were ever described, and it wintered from Nova Scotia to as far south as Chesapeake Bay. It was also known as a Pied Duck, a vernacular name that it shared with the Surf Scoter and the Common Goldeneye (and even the American Oystercatcher), a fact that has led to difficulties in interpreting old records of these species, and also as Skunk Duck. Both names refer to the male's striking white/black piebald coloration. Yet another common name was Sand Shoal Duck, referring to its habit of feeding in shallow water.
See also
External links
- The Labrador Duck from John James Audubon's Birds of America
- Environment Canada
- Swans, Geese, and Ducks of Canada
- Marine Extinction Database--University of East Anglia, U.K.
References
- Christopher Cokinos (2000), Hope is the Thing with Feathers. New York: Putnam, pp. 281-304. ISBN 1-58542-006-9
- Wiliam Ducher (1894). The Labrador Duck--another specimen, with additional data respecting extant specimens. The Auk volume XI , pp. 4-12. (Available here)
- Edward Howe Forbush (1912), A History of the Game Birds, Wild-Fowl and Shore Birds of Massachusetts and Adjacent States. Boston: Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, pp. 411-416.
- Errol Fuller (2001), Extinct Birds, Comstock Publishing, ISBN 080143954X, pp. 85-87.
- John C. Phillips (1922-1926), A Natural History of Ducks. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, volume 4, pp. 57-63.
- Steve Madge and Hilary Burn (1988), Waterfowl. An identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 265-266. ISBN 0-395-46727-6Template:Commons
de:Labradorente he:ברווז לברדור ja:カササギガモ pt:Pato do Labrador