The rail was initially threatened when domestic rabbits were introduced to Laysan. With no predators to control their numbers the rabbits soon ate the entire vegetation cover on the island. This turned the island into a barren dust bowl, sending the Laysan millerbird and the Laysan honeycreeper (both subspecies endemic to the island) to extinction; the Laysan finch and Laysan duck both managed to survive. In the 1900s, when destruction of the vegetation by the rabbits had only just started, the rail's population was around 2000 mature birds and at carrying capacity; it remained so until at least the early 1910s, but declined thereafter. In 1923, only two birds could be found on Laysan, and of eight that were on that occasion brought from Midway, at least two died almost immediately from lack of food and shelter. The species is believed to have become extinct on Laysan during 1923, probably mainly because no habitat for nesting was left in sufficient quantity to maintain the population.