Inaccessible Island Rail
Laterallus rogersi
A tiny, mouse-like flightless rail restricted to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan da Cunha group. The sooty adult has a brown back, a white-barred belly and flanks, and a reddish eye. Duller juvenile is paler and lacks barring. Prefers dense cover like tussock and thickets. Vocal, giving a strident trill to proclaim its territory, as well as a short “tchick” and other hard notes.
识别特征
The Inaccessible Island rail, or Inaccessible rail (Laterallus rogersi), is a small bird species of the rail family, Rallidae. Endemic to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, it is the smallest extant flightless bird in the world. The species was formally described by physician Percy Lowe in 1923 but had first come to the attention of scientists 50 years earlier. The Inaccessible Island rail's taxonomic affinities and origin were a long-standing mystery; in 2018 its closest relative was identified as the South American dot-winged crake, and it was decided that both species are best classified in the genus Laterallus. The Inaccessible Island rail has brown plumage, black bill and feet, and adults have a red eye. It occupies most habitats on Inaccessible Island, from the beaches to the central plateau, feeding on a variety of small invertebrates and also some plant matter. Pairs are territorial and monogamous, with both parents being responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the chicks. Its adaptations to living on a tiny island at high densities include low base metabolic rates, small clutch sizes, and flightlessness. Unlike many other oceanic islands, Inaccessible Island has remained free from introduced predators, allowing this species to flourish while many other flightless birds, particularly flightless rails, have gone extinct. The species is nevertheless considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), due to its single small population, which would be threatened by the accidental introduction of mammalian predators such as rats or cats.
分类信息
Genus: Laterallus; Family: Rallidae; Order: Gruiformes.
- 学名
- Laterallus rogersi
- 命名信息
- (Lowe, 1923)
- 目
- Gruiformes
- 科
- Rallidae
- 属
- Laterallus
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Migration pattern: Resident species.
保护状况
Population trend: stable.
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
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