The Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis), also known as the Laysan teal, and sometimes known by its Hawaiian name, koloa pōhaka, is a dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Fossil evidence reveals that Laysan ducks once lived across the entire archipelago, but today survive only on Laysan Island and two atolls. The duck has several physical and behavioral traits linked to the absence of ground-based predators in its habitat. By 1860, the ducks had disappeared from everywhere except Laysan Island. The introduction of European rabbits by guano miners at the end of the 19th century brought the bird to the brink of extinction in 1912, with twelve surviving individuals. Rabbits were eradicated from the island in 1923 and numbers of Laysan ducks began to rise, reaching 500 by the 1950s. In an effort to ensure the long-term future of this duck, 42 birds were translocated to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 2002. These thrived in their new surroundings, and another group were later relocated to Kure Atoll.

Taxonomy

Named by Lionel Walter Rothschild in 1892, the Laysan duck is named after Laysan island, one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is a member of the mallard clade of dabbling ducks, and is a highly unusual species, both behaviorally and genetically. Recent evidence suggests they originated from an east Asian, southern hemisphere ancestor of mallards, not from stray migratory mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) as had been reported in the past.

In 2023 the Laysan teal was featured on a United States Postal Service Forever stamp as part of the Endangered Species set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore's Photo Ark. The stamp was dedicated at a ceremony at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.

References

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  • ARKive – Images and movies of the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis)
  • BirdLife Species Factsheet