Wikijunior:Extinct Birds/Labrador Duck

Aren't real Labrador ducks by the way

The Camptorhynchus labradorius (Labrador Duck) is a North American bird which went extinct in 1875/1878. It was already a rare duck before European settlers arrived and made it extinct. Since they are extinct, we do not have a lot of information on the Labrador Ducks. But we still managed to get a good grab of information on Labrador Ducks, such as it's habitat, characteristics, and the reason why the Labrador Ducks went extinct.

Extinction

The beak supports the theory that the beak was used for eating and scooping up shellfish and crustaceans from shallow and slim water. As a result of reasearch on Wikipedia's article on Labrador Ducks, the big factor why the Labrador Ducks went extinct is due to the absents of the duck's foods, like shellfish and crustaceans.

Hunting probably wasn't a factor in there extinction since the duck tasted horribly and would rot quick.

Characteristics

Long bills for scooping up their pray, usually brown, maybe white/dark on the head. They had a short, but thick neck to possibly help swallow their prey. Their feet were short, resemblance of a frog. Tail was brownish black.

Habitat

This extinct species was only found in North America, specifically Nova Scotia South to Chesapeake Bay, USA (or New England/New Jersey, around that area as well). These birds can be found in sandy/watery like habitats specifically bays, lakes, inlets, harbours, and estuaries. The reason why it would like in a watery like habitat is because their prey, foods like selfish, live in water.

Food

Snail

Mollusks

The Labrador Duck ate small mollusks, shellfish, and crustaceans, as the bill shape suggests. It may have also eaten snails to survive if they didn't have mollusks or shellfish around. Most of these foods are found in lakes, bays, and inlets, in which is why the Labrador Ducks were mostly found there.

The shellfish and crustaceans would be usually found in shallow water, while the snails could be found on the wet sand (from the water areas, or when it has rain).

Sources

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