Birdfinding.info ⇒ The Laysan Rail remained common on Laysan Island into the 1910s: estimates of 2,000 in 1912 and 5,000 in 1915 are considered reasonable. But European Hare introduced in 1903 eventually denuded the one-square-mile island of most of its vegetation. By 1923, a dedicated effort found only two rails remaining on Laysan. By that time, however, additional populations were well-established on Midway Atoll’s Sand and Eastern Islands. These survived until the accidental introduction of rats to Midway in 1943. The rail was last seen on Eastern Island in July 1944. Although vegetation had by then returned to Laysan Island, there was unfortunately no attempt to re-establish the rail in its original range.
Laysan Rail †
Zapornia palmeri
Extinct. Formerly endemic to Laysan Island in the Northwest Chain of Hawaii.
Introduced populations on Midway Atoll’s Sand and Eastern Islands persisted from the 1890s until 1943-44.
Identification
A small, flightless rail, very closely related to Baillon’s Crake, with essentially the same plumage pattern, but duller.
The face and breast were grayish. The crown and upperparts were plain-brown with darker streaks. The flanks and vent were brown with pale barring. The bill and legs were pale greenish.
Laysan Rail, adults with chicks. John Gerrard Keulemans, 1900
Laysan Rail. (Laysan Island, Hawaii; 1913.) © Alfred M. Bailey
Laysan Rail, ventral view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110009; Laysan Island, Hawaii; June 20, 1893.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Laysan Rail, side view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110009; Laysan Island, Hawaii; June 20, 1893.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Laysan Rail, dorsal view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110009; Laysan Island, Hawaii; June 20, 1893.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Extinct.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Zapornia palmeri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22692672A93363618. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692672A93363618.en. (Accessed June 4, 2020.)
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Taylor, B., and B. van Perlo. 1998. Rails: A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules, and Coots of the World. Yale University Press.