Labrador Duck

Labrador Duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius

Labrador Duck [John Gerrard Keulemans Illustration]

The Labrador Duck is a little known extinct duck from our part of North America.  It was an uncommon duck when the first settlers came to northeastern North America.  It became rare in the 1850s to 1870s and was extinct by 1878.  It was also known as the Pied Duck or the Sand Shoal Duck.  Some locals called it the Skunk Duck but that term also included the Surf Scoters and Common Goldeneyes.

Labrador Duck [Painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes]

The life history of the Labrador Duck is not well known.  Much of our information is assumed by extrapolation from other duck life histories.  That is unfortunate because our population was 'young' as a nation and uninformed and facts were not gathered and we were not aware that this species needed protection.

Labrador Duck [John James Audubon Painting]

From what we know or have assumed, the Labrador Duck lived in northeastern North America only.  It bred along the coast of Labrador and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  It wintered along the coast of the Maritime Provinces and down the eastern seaboard of the US as far south as  New Jersey and Chesapeake Bay.

Although the breeding biology of this species is unknown it probably nested on rocky cliffs or on islands.  It fed on molluscs, shellfish and seaweeds.  It preferred sandy shoals where it used its long, wide bill to glean food.  I picture its feeding behaviour as similar to our Harlequin Ducks.  Its common name tells us it preferred shallow water.

Labrador Duck - Male

The Labrador Duck was beautiful.  As seen above, the male was pied, black and white.  Its head was long and the bill was almost as long as the head.  Its eyes were small (this may be a taxidermy specimen error).  It was certainly adept at life in the surf.  Its bill was unique, long and wide and 'soft' with lamellae for sifting out food.

Labrador Duck - Female

The female was very gray overall.  We don't know a lot about the juveniles.  The Fuertes painting shown above shows a young male which is quite gray with white starting to show on the head.  The wings of the males were unique with an all-white wing except for the primaries.  They must have been beautiful in flight!

There are 54 (or 55 according to Chilton 2009) specimens existing, scattered throughout the world from museums, private collections and even in the possession of Sheik Saud of Qatar.  They have been sold, traded, looted, fraudulently copied, and narrowly escaped destruction in world wars.  Fortunately some good specimens still exist.  We have one specimen in Canada at the Redpath Museum in Montreal.  The US has specimens at Harvard and the Smithsonian.  They can also be found in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and other places.

Audubon was in Labrador in July, 1833 and could not find the Labrador Duck.  He lists a breeding site, his son having found possible nests.  This was circumstantial evidence only and is generally not accepted.  One would assume that if the duck were there Audubon would have found it.  In 1840 Audubon wrote that the flight of the duck was swift and its wings emitted a whistling sound.  In 1891 S.F. Cheney of Grand Manan wrote that the Labrador Duck he had shot sometime in the past had small shells in its crop and it was accompanied by long-tailed ducks.

The Labrador Duck is our most mysterious duck.  Why did it go extinct, especially since it was scarce when the white man first came here?  No one really knows.  It doesn't seem to be because of environmental causes. Some think it was not from market hunting because it apparently was not a good-tasting duck and was not popular in the markets.  It was not often seen in the markets probably because it was rare.  I think it went extinct  because of a combination of factors.  I think market hunting did have an affect.  Any amount on a rare species would have an impact.  I think the other reason was the same reason the Great Auk went extinct - nest destruction.  I think the native people, seafarers, and other predators extensively robbed nests of eggs and the birds were constantly on the decline.  I expect this species could not readapt to new breeding sites where they were safe from predation.

The first depiction of a Labrador Duck was a drawing done in 1792.  Once its presence became known, collectors were on its trail.  It took less than 100 years for it to meet its demise.  A sad testament to a beautiful species and a regrettable step for humankind.

Reference

Bent, A.C. 1925. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl Part Two.  Dover Publications.
Chilton, Glen 2009. The Curse of the Labrador Duck.  HarperCollins.

Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count

Local Birders Conduct Citizen Science

Hairy Woodpecker

January 1st brings a group of birders to the Mactaquac area to do an annual bird census, the Christmas Bird Count.  Over 50 counts are done in New Brunswick between the dates of December 14 and January 5.  Counts are done in the same 24 km circle every year.  This provides useful data on bird populations and all the factors that might influence them.  The Mactaquac circle goes from Keswick to Granite Hill and Kingsclear to Upper Prince William.  This year 14 people took part.

Bald Eagle

The count yielded 36 species and 1965 individuals.  The group drove almost 400 km and worked about 24 hours altogether, a commendable effort.

Pine Grosbeak [N Poirier Photo]

Below are the results.  They show a rather low count for finches.  That was expected because the cone crop was low in the area.  There was an excessive number of Blue Jays in some sectors.  This was the first year we did not record any House Sparrows.  Their numbers have been dwindling for many years and normally a close look around active barns would produce some.  This year we found none.  

Surprise findings were a Brown Thrasher coming to a feeder in Upper Queensbury.  This was the first time we have had Wild Turkeys.  There was a Belted Kingfisher and a Horned Grebe at the Fish Hatchery.  A kingfisher was found only once before on a count.  We have never had a grebe before, an exciting find.  There was a lot of open water there so it must have been finding food.  Undoubtedly the cold weather will drive it to the coast.

Canada Goose							0
Am Black Duck	120					20	140
Mallard	5						5
Common Goldeneye							0
Hooded Merganser						1	1
Common Merganser	16					8	24
Wild Turkey				6			6
Horned Grebe	1						1
Bald Eagle			1	1	3	3	8
Sharp-shinned Hawk				1			1
Red-tailed Hawk							0
Rough-legged Hawk							0
Ruffed Grouse							0
Herring Gull	1					4	5
Great Black-backed Gull	2					22	24
Rock Pigeon		24	3	260		2	289
Mourning Dove	8	1	7	37		15	68
Belted Kingfisher	1						1
Downy Woodpecker	1		5	11	1		18
Hairy Woodpecker	2	1	10	11	2		26
Pileated Woodpecker						1	1
Blue Jay	5	6	45	128	37	4	225
American Crow	19	27	5	35	4	13	103
Common Raven	2	6	11	8	4		31
Black-capped Chickadee	25	18	65	179	14	12	313
Red-breasted Nuthatch		2	3	6			11
White-breasted Nuthatch	1		5	11		1	18
Brown Creeper			1	2			3
Golden-crowned Kinglet							0
American Robin			1			1	2
Brown Thrasher				1			1
European Starling	17			77	200	12	306
Bohemian Waxwing				15			15
Snow Bunting							0
American Tree Sparrow	2		6	26	2		36
White-throated Sparrow			2				2
Dark-eyed Junco	2		3	13	2		20
Northern Cardinal			1	3			4
Pine Grosbeak			30	2			32
Purple Finch			2				2
White-winged Crossbill							0
Common Redpoll							0
Pine Siskin	15						15
American Goldfinch	48	11	48	48		20	175
Evening Grosbeak	12		2	15		4	33
House Sparrow							0
					Total birds		1965
					No. species		36

  

With ever decreasing funds available for biological and environmental research, citizen science is becoming more and more important.  Christmas bird counts have been done in New Brunswick since they first began in the early 1900s.  We have accumulated a large body of data for New Brunswick, more than some other provinces.  Many thanks to birders all over the province and especially to those who helped with this count. 

American Robin