Without a doubt, the rarest birds I've ever seen were Laysan Ducks (hen on nest, above, on Sand Island), who are confined to Laysan Island and Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. I'm not sure what their population is right now, but I think it's safe to say that it is less than 1,000 individuals.
Pretty rare right? But despite dwelling on the brink of extinction, there are 2 duck species with smaller populations; Campbell Teal, and even more scarce, the Madagascar Pochard. In some good news, for the first time the world's rarest duck has bred in captivity, which means the possibility of a comeback is exponentially higher than just a few weeks ago. Rejoice!
