Last Flights: Laysan Duck

I'm hoping to finish a series of little-known endangered birds called 'Last Flight'- species that are less heard of but no less deserving of protection like Gunnison Grouse, Acension Frigatebird, and Lidth's Jay. 

The Laysan Duck, or Teal, is a small species of dabbling duck found on the islands of Laysan and the Midway Atolls. They are endemic (only found in) the Hawaiian islands, and nowhere else on earth. The decline of the Laysan Duck began somewhere around the 1860's, when humans began to colonize the smaller Hawaiian islands and brought with them invasive species like the Polynesian Rat. The rats ate the eggs and possibly attacked the young of the Laysan Duck, and reduced the population to almost nothing. The adults were also under heavy threat as they had evolved not to fly, but rather to freeze and try to hide- something that did not work against the invading hordes of dogs, cats, pigs, and mongooses. Only on Laysan, their namesake, did these ducks survive, on a tiny lump of rock, occupying an area that consisted of only 415 hectares. 

Luckily, federal protection of the duck and of its island stronghold seemed to win a battle for the ducks. Unfortunately, domesticated rabbits managed to get onto Laysan, and plowing through and eating all the vegetation, pushed the ducks to the brink yet again. The whole species fell to no more than a dozen birds.

Biologists, however, eradicated the rabbits around 1912. Protection of the Laysan Duck is still ongoing, and despite several hurdles, the bird seems to be overall doing at least somewhat better. If this trend continues, the duck might even be taken off the endangered list in the year 2019.