We're moving towards my annual Audubon's Birthday charity event and my new release for that will be a fourth volume of "Threatened Endangered Extinct". Here, in my gallery, I'll be sharing a quote and an image, to help build up to the date... "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children." -John James Audubon First, in my sneak peeks of the set, is the Labrador Duck... The Labrador Duck was a sea duck that migrated annually, wintering off the coasts of New Jersey and New England in the eastern United States, where it favored southern sandy coasts, sheltered bays, harbors, and inlets, and breeding in Labrador and northern Quebec in the summer. It has the distinction of being the first known endemic North American bird species to become extinct after the Columbian Exchange, with the last known sighting occurring in 1878 in Elmira, New York. The Labrador duck is thought to have been always rare, but between 1850 and 1870, populations waned further. Its extinction (sometime after 1878) is still not fully explained. Although hunted for food, this duck was considered to taste bad, rotted quickly, and fetched a low price. Consequently, it was not sought much by hunters. However, the eggs may have been over-harvested, and it may have been subject to depredations by the feather trade in its breeding area, as well. Another possible factor in the bird's extinction was the decline in mussels and other shellfish on which they are believed to have fed in their winter quarters, due to growth of population and industry on the Eastern Seaboard. Although all sea ducks readily feed on shallow-water molluscs, no Western Atlantic bird species seems to have been as dependent on such food as the Labrador duck. Another theory that was said to lead to their extinction was a huge increase of human influence on the coastal ecosystems in North America, causing the birds to flee their niches and find another habitat. These ducks were the only birds whose range was limited to the American coast of the North Atlantic, so changing niches was a difficult task. Whatever the causes may be, the Labrador duck became extinct in the late 19th century. The Labrador duck has been considered the most enigmatic of all North American birds. There are 55 specimens of the Labrador duck preserved in museum collections worldwide.