Island Extinctions, Laysan

"When Alfred Bailey visited Laysan in 1912, 'the rails were abundant, and remarkably tame . . . They were in and out of our dwelling place, capturing moths and flies.'"

"When rabbits were introduced to Laysan, they ate the foliage that provided cover for the little rails. Because the birds were fast disappearing, some were collected and transported to the rabbitless Eastern Island of the Midway Atoll, where they flourished. In 1943, a US Navy landing craft drifted ashore on Eastern, bringing an invasion of rats..."

"The rails are everywhere on Laysan in great numbers. Nearly every bunch of grass seemed to harbor a pair. They probably have no enemies of any importance, and the only check to their increase is space and food supply. A man-o'-war bird may pick one up now and then, but I did not observe this. Yet the rails like to slink about in the shade of grass tussocks, or bushes, much in the same way that a chipmunk seeks the shadow of a log in preference to crossing a bright, sunny space.

"Reasonably common on Lanai Island until the building of Lanai City in the 1920s, the bird population quickly declined and by 1931 this race of thrush was on the verge of extinction. It has not been seen since."

"Rabbits, introduced to Laysan in a forlorn attempt to establish a meat canning industry, destroyed the natural vegetation and by 1920s this tiny island had become virtually a desert. In 1923, three Laysan honeycreepers were left alive. One of these, a male, was filmed in full song just days before a gal and dust storm swept all away….When the weather cleared, the last honeycreepers were gone."