CreatureData

Laysan duck

Anas laysanensis Rothschild, 1892

CRCritically Endangeredwaterfowl

The laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 843.4 g to 1.14 kg and live up to 23.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.

Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis)
Photo: Eike Wulfmeyer · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the laysan duck

Weight
843.4 g – 1.14 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
23.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
29.1 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
27 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
9.35src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the laysan duck live?

Not recorded

What is the laysan duck?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis), also known as the Laysan teal, and sometimes known by its Hawaiian name, koloa pōhaka, is a dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Fossil evidence reveals that Laysan ducks once lived across the entire archipelago, but today survive only on Laysan Island and two atolls. The duck has several physical and behavioral traits linked to the absence of ground-based predators in its habitat. By 1860, the ducks had disappeared from everywhere except Laysan Island. The introduction of European rabbits by guano miners at the end of the 19th century brought the bird to the brink of extinction in 1912, with twelve surviving individuals. Rabbits were eradicated from the island in 1923 and numbers of Laysan ducks began to rise, reaching 500 by the 1950s. In an effort to ensure the long-term future of this duck, 42 birds were translocated to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 2002. These thrived in their new surroundings, and another group were later relocated to Kure Atoll.

From the Wikipedia article “Laysan duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laysan_duck&oldid=1380601079), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the laysan duck endangered?

The laysan duck is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the laysan duck classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAnseriformes
  5. familyAnatidae
  6. genusAnas
  7. SpeciesAnas laysanensis Rothschild, 1892

Synonyms Anas platyrhynchos laysanensis, Aythya platyrhynchos laysanensis

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • Laysan tealEnglish
  • Laysan tealEnglish
  • بط لايسانArabic
  • حذف لايسانArabic
  • ànec de l'illa LaysanCatalan
  • kachna laysanskáCzech
  • LaysanandDanish
  • LaysanenteGerman
  • Laysan-EnteGerman
  • LaysanstockenteGerman
  • lajsana anasoEsperanto
  • Ánade de LaysánSpanish
  • Pato Real de LaysanSpanish
  • laysani sinikael-partEstonian
  • laysaninsorsaFinnish
  • Canard de LaysanFrench
  • Koloa pōhakaHawaiian
  • ברווז לייסןHebrew
  • lajsanska patkaCroatian
  • laysani réceHungarian
  • Germano di LaysanItalian
  • レイサンマガモJapanese
  • laisaninė antisLithuanian
  • LaysaneendDutch
  • LaysantalingDutch
  • krzyżówka białookaPolish
  • Pato de LaysanPortuguese
  • pato-de-laysanPortuguese
  • Лайсанский чирокRussian
  • kačica laysanskáSlovak
  • Lajsanska plovkaSerbian
  • Laysan ÖrdeğiTurkish
  • крижень лайсанськийUkrainian
  • 來珊鴨Chinese
  • 莱岛鸭Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the laysan duck

Other species in the same genus Anas.

LC, Least Concern
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

Anatidae

CompareLaysan duck vs MallardLaysan duck vs Northern pintailLaysan duck vs Eurasian tealLaysan duck vs Indian spot-billed duck

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the laysan duck?

An adult laysan duck weighs 843.4 g – 1.14 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the laysan duck endangered?

The laysan duck is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the laysan duck live?

The laysan duck has a recorded lifespan of 23.4 years.

What kind of animal is the laysan duck?

The laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/laysan-duck

MLA

“Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/laysan-duck.

BibTeX
@misc{laysan_duck_2026,
  title = {Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/laysan-duck},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}