Labrador duck
| Labrador duck | ||||||||||||
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Camptorhynchus labradorius , female |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Camptorhynchus | ||||||||||||
| Bonaparte , 1838 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Camptorhynchus labradorius | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1789) |
The labrador duck ( Camptorhynchus labradorius ) is an extinct North American duck bird. The last known specimen was shot in Elmira , New York , in 1878 . The exact causes of the extinction are unclear. The species was hunted, but it was not hunted on a larger scale than other duck species.
Appearance
The labrador duck was a small species of duck with a body length of about 51 centimeters. Their fast flight was noticeable. The male was unmistakable in his magnificent black and white dress.
The species showed a pronounced sexual dimorphism . When males were in breeding plumage head, throat, neck, upper breast, lack feathers and wings up to the primaries white. The rest of the body plumage was black or black-brown. The black parting was particularly striking. The beak was black to brown-black. The base of the beak and the region around the nostrils were probably yellow-orange. The legs were probably black. The iris was reddish brown to yellow.
The females were a little smaller. Her body plumage was uniformly brown-gray. The coat was tinged with blue. The body and tail-coverts were sand-colored. The tail was blackish. Chin and throat whitish. The wings had a large white wing mirror . Young ducks were like females. Young male ducks were generally a little grayer and had more white on their heads.
In both sexes, the beak had lamellas. There were a total of 50 lamellae on the upper and lower beak. For the size of the beak, this is a very large number and significantly exceeds the number of lamellae in other sea ducks and sawdaws . There is insufficient knowledge about the moulting process of this species of duck. It probably moulted its small plumage twice a year and its wing feathers once a year. There is no information about the calls of the Labrador duck. The trachea , however, differed from that which is characteristic of ducks of the genus Melanitta and was more like that of the eider and the collar duck . The few existing descriptions indicate that the duck whistled in flight. She also produced a whistling instrumental sound with the wings .
Distribution area
The exact range of this duck is not known. It was believed to be breeding in Labrador , Newfoundland ; however, it cannot be ruled out that their breeding areas were further north and that they only stayed in this region during the autumn migration. During the winter months she stayed on the Atlantic coast of North America in a region that stretched from Chesapeake Bay in the south to Labrador. Relatively large numbers of them have been sighted on the coast of Long Island .
The labrador duck was probably never a very numerous species of duck. However, between 1840 and 1860, shot Labrador ducks were regularly offered at poultry markets in Baltimore , New York , Philadelphia and Boston . Their meat, however, was not considered particularly tasty. Because of its dense plumage, it was also considered difficult to pluck. Presumably the ducks shot spoiled rather than found a buyer.
Today 54 or 55 bellows of this type still exist in various North American and European museums. They were all collected at a time when the bellows were more important than precise dates of where and when that duck was shot.
food
Little is known about the feeding habits of the Labrador duck. In addition to the lamellae, their beak also had a noticeably soft edge. Shell remains of mussels were also found in the crop of a shot bird. It is therefore very likely that the labrador duck lived on mussels in a similar way to the eider ducks. The duck had a relatively large liver, which ornithologists take as an indication that it could dive for a long time. Most of the surviving observations, however, describe it as a duck that mainly looked for food in the coastal fringes and also searched for food in the mud banks. Other descriptions indicate a similarity to the shoveler when foraging for food. The numerous lamellas in the beak support this observation. It may have occupied an ecological niche similar to that of the pied duck , which is predominantly found in the Bering Sea .
Reproduction
Little is known about the reproduction of this species. The son of John James Audubon was shown the remains of nests on Labrador at the end of July 1833, which should have come from the Labrador duck. They resembled the nests of eider ducks and were thickly lined with down. On the basis of these already abandoned nests, a very early breeding season can be concluded. However, it is not certain whether these were actually the nests of Labrador ducks.
There are a total of ten eggs in museums around the world that are said to have come from Labrador ducks. They are almost elliptical in shape. One egg is labeled Labrador 8 Juin , which would confirm a very early breeding season.
Reasons of extinction
The exact causes that led to this species becoming extinct are unknown. What is certain is that it was not a common species of duck when it was first scientifically described in 1789. Between 1840 and 1870 the number of Labrador ducks observed decreased sharply. Males in particular were rarely observed.
Contemporaries described the species as very shy, but also as stupid , which can be understood as an indication that it did not keep a sufficient distance to escape from humans. The eggs were probably stolen by fishermen in large numbers. The down also likely had commercial value. It was hunted during the winter months. Hunting during the breeding season, however, is not reported.
It cannot be ruled out that the colonization of New England by humans changed the shellfish population there and thus contributed to the extinction of this species. The beak with the soft edge, which in many ways resembled the bill of the rose-eared duck, is a very good indication that the species was a food specialist. Such a species may be very sensitive to a change.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
literature
- Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds. Oxford University Press 2000, ISBN 0-8160-1833-2
- Janet Kear (Ed.): Ducks, Geese and Swans. Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0198546459 .
Web links
- John James Audubon: Birds of America: The Labrador Duck [1]
- Camptorhynchus labradorius in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.