Madagascar Rail
Rallus madagascariensis
A classic long-billed brown marsh rail. Found in grass and sedge wetlands in eastern Madagascar. Shy and skulking, as is typical for a rail; usually detected by voice. Highly vocal, with a variety of calls, including an explosive, whinnying series and deep grunts. Larger than flufftails and Baillon’s Crake, with a longer bill. Smaller than White-throated Rail, with browner coloration and a dark throat.
Identification
This is a medium-sized rail measuring 25 cm (9.8 in). Its plumage is mostly plain brown with some streaks on the upperparts and upper breast. Its face and throat are greyish and its undertail is white. The bill is red and the legs are dark.<p>Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and freshwater marshes.It is threatened by habitat loss.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Rallus madagascariensis
- Authority
- Verreaux, J, 1833
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Rallus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Orange-breasted Thornbird
Phacellodomus ferrugineigula
Medium-sized, long-tailed thornbird with a brown body and a rufous forehead and throat. The tail is rufous with a brown center. Resembles Orange-eyed Thornbird, but has dark eyes. An inhabitant of wet marshy areas with scattered trees, where unlike others thornbirds it builds large woven nests of grass, leaves, and stems. Song is a series of loud ringing notes, usually delivered as a duet.
Grasshopper Buzzard
Butastur rufipennis
A small, slim, fairly long-tailed buzzard. Gray and brown on the upperparts and rufous on the underparts. The white throat has a black line down the center. In flight, reveals distinctive rufous patches on the tops of the wings, with mostly white underwings. Found in a variety of savanna and grassland habitats. A migratory species that is often found in flocks, especially near fires. Best told from other buzzards by its structure, and in flight by its rufous wing panels. The call is a series of “ki” notes.
Dulit Frogmouth
Batrachostomus harterti
Large frogmouth of Borneo’s central mountains. Inhabits foothill forest (typically 600–1230 m). Heavyset, with a whiskered face and bright white spots on the wings. Similar Large Frogmouth is generally found at lower elevations; Dulit has broader (as opposed to Large’s sharply triangular) white wing spots, strong pale barring on the throat, and overall darker coloration. Song is a low, resonant, melancholy-sounding “hooooo’m”; call consists of barks, typically given in pairs: “woo’WUP!”.
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