Labrador duck

Labrador duck
Female specimen, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Male, Field Museum of Natural History

Extinct (~1878)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Presumed Extinct (~1878)  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Merginae
Genus: †Camptorhynchus
Bonaparte, 1838
Species:
†C. labradorius
Binomial name
†Camptorhynchus labradorius
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)

The Labrador duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius) is an extinct North American duck species. It has the distinction of being the first known endemic North American bird species to become extinct after the Columbian Exchange, with the last known sighting occurring in 1878 in Elmira, New York.[3] It was already a rare duck before European settlers arrived, and as a result of its rarity, information on the Labrador duck is not abundant, although some, such as its habitat, characteristics, dietary habits and reasons behind its extinction, are known. There are 55 specimens of the Labrador duck preserved in museum collections worldwide.[4]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Camptorhynchus labradorius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680418A92862623. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680418A92862623.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Camptorhynchus labradorius. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. ^ Renko, Amanda. "EXTINCT: Seeking a bird last seen in 1878". Star Gazette. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. ^ Chilton, Glen. The Curse of the Labrador Duck: My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.