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Laysan Island

The Laysan Island cyclorama was completed in 1914.
It is one of the first habitat groups developed in the US
and the only cyclorama in the world to represent a single ecosystem.

Laysan Island is situated at the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Islands, 800 miles from Honolulu. It was designated a federal bird refuge in 1909. The University of Iowa participated in three expeditions to Laysan before World War I to study the unique fauna. collect materials for the exhibit and try to save the Island from ecological destruction.

The most prominent birds nesting on Laysan are the albatrosses. These birds return to the island for only a short while each year to nest. They roam the Pacific Ocean throughout the remainder of the year. The albatrosses along with nearly all other species exhibited get their living from the sea, eating fish, squid, and other aquatic food.

The number of birds nesting on Laysan is enormous. In 1911, at the time of the second expedition, it was estimated that there were 250,000 albatrosses, 400,000 sooty-backed terns, and 100,000 shearwaters--all on an area of only two square miles!

Of the twenty-three species found on Laysan, five were found nowhere else in the world. Of these five, three are now extinct--the flightless Laysan Rail, the Honeyeater, and the Millerbird. All are found in the exhibit. Their extinction was due to the unfortunate introduction of rabbits to Laysan in 1903 as a commercial venture. The rabbits denuded the island of its vegetation, depriving many insects of their habitat and the land birds that depended upon them of their primary source of food.