Posted on: Saturday, June 11, 2005
Midway's transplants welcome
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Midway Atoll's new population of endangered Laysan ducks seems intent on increasing its numbers, with the nesting of five of six females and the recent hatching of four ducklings.
John Klavitter • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Twenty ducks were removed from Laysan Island in October and transferred to Midway as part of a plan to ensure the species' survival. To the surprise and delight of researchers, most of the females began nesting this spring, and on May 16 the first duckling hatched.
It died four days later, but four other ducklings have hatched, and after 16 days they are doing well, officials said, and more are expected to hatch in the coming days and weeks. Meanwhile, the female that lost the first duckling has established a new nest with at least five eggs.
This type of re-nesting is rarely observed on Laysan Island, wildlife biologists said. The incubation time for Laysan ducks is 28 to 30 days. All the nesting activity has surprised researchers involved in the project because of the females' young age and lack of brooding experience, said Michelle Reynolds, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Although the ducks once existed on most of the main Hawaiian Islands, the species was reduced to a single population of 500 birds on Laysan Island. The species has had several close brushes with extinction, most recently in 1993 when drought and disease dropped their numbers to just 50 ducks.
The bird was listed as an endangered species in 1967 under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
Laysan ducks are between 15 and 17 inches in length. They are brown with a bright green-blue to purple speculum — the distinctive feathers among the secondary wing feathers. The ducks have a white ring around their eyes; the color of their legs and feet is orange. The ducks eat mostly insects, but also feed on plants and seeds.
"With the current success of the program, we are looking forward to the next translocation of 32 ducks in October. If survivorship and reproduction continue at their current levels, we someday hope to have a population that compares to Laysan Island," said John Klavitter, a wildlife biologist at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
The Laysan Duck Translocation Project is financed and supported by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey's Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and numerous volunteers.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
The birds have been laying five to 10 eggs per nest, compared with the average clutch size of 3.8 eggs for ducks on Laysan Island, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Scientists believe the larger clutch sizes may be due to the more abundant food sources available at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, 1,250 miles northwest of Honolulu.
Since 20 Laysan ducks were transferred to Midway in October, the atoll's colony of the endangered species has increased to 24 ducks.
