Kubaralle
| Kubaralle | ||||||||||
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Kubaralle ( Cyanolimnas cerverai ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||
| Cyanolimnas | ||||||||||
| Barbour & JL Peters , 1927 | ||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||
| Cyanolimnas cerverai | ||||||||||
| Barbour & JL Peters, 1927 |
The Cuba Rail ( Cyanolimnas cerverai ), also Zapataralle called, is a bird art from the family of Coot (Rallidae). The distribution area of this species is limited to the Zapata swamp in Cuba . It is classified by the IUCN as critically endangered ( "Critically Endangered" ).
features
The Kubaralle reaches a body length of about 29 centimeters. Due to the relatively short, rounded wings, the species can only fly to a limited extent. While the top is brown, the bottom is blue with gray trailing edges. The coverts under the tail, the throat and a short stripe above the eyes are white. The yellow of the moderately large beak turns red at the base. The iris is red, the legs orange.
distribution and habitat
The occurrence of this endemic species is limited to the northern part of the 4,500 km² marshland of Zapata. Even the Cuban Wren ( Ferminia cerverai ) and nominate the Zapataammer ( Torreornis inexpectata inexpectata ) are only found here.
The preferred habitat of the Kubaralle is the vegetation on areas with a water level of 0.8–1.0 meters. Here it lives in thickets of bushes and low trees on elevated ground (protruding from the water). Typical plants in this ecological niche are the family of the myricaceae belonging Myrica cerifera , the willow Salix longipes , to the sour grass plants of the genus cutting belonging kind Cladium jamaicensis and the narrow-cattail ( Typha angustifolia ).
Today, according to the reports available, the bird is said to occur around the Laguna del Tesoro and in the areas around Santo Tomás and Peralta . Nevertheless, it seems possible that there are other occurrences of this species in other places. From bone fossil finds in cave deposits in the provinces of La Habana , Pinar del Río and even on the pine island , one can conclude that the range of the species used to be much larger. Due to their special adaptation to this marshland, Thomas Barbour doubted that the Cuban rallies were scattered across Cuba as widely as, for example, the Eastern Cuban dwarf hatias ( Mesocapromys nanus ) or the Cuban crocodiles ( Crocodylus rhombifer ). He concluded that the swamp area in Cuba must have been much larger in the past. Storrs Lovejoy Olson examined the fossils from the pine island and came to the conclusion that this could be a subspecies because the body dimensions were significantly smaller than those of the nominate form . In his opinion, however, no conclusive assessment could be made on the basis of the available material.
behavior
The cuba eels usually nest in the blades ( Cladium jamaicensis ) on the raised tufts of grass protruding from the water. They breed around September and possibly December and January as well. The American ornithologist James Bond found nests with 3 white eggs. Otherwise little is known about the breeding behavior of this rail. Since rallen usually live monogamous and flee nests , it is assumed that this is also the case with the Cubarallen. They get their feed from the blades. Little is known about eating habits so far. Since other rallen feed on invertebrates and plant components, it can be assumed that these are also part of the common food of the Cuban rallies. In 1994, Spanish and Cuban ornithologists observed the Cuban rallies in an area where they had never been detected before. They concluded that they migrate temporarily between dry and rainy seasons.
Like many other rails, the Kubaralle is extremely difficult to spot because it moves in the thicket of the blades and crouches for fear of discovery. When disturbed, it runs a shorter distance away and spreads its tail so that you can see the white underside of the tail. From observations of Bond, despite the morphological conditions, one must assume that she is not completely incapable of flight, since Bond saw her fluttering over a canal.
Research history and etymology
The first kubaralle known to science was collected in March 1927 by the Spanish zoologist Fermín Zanón Cervera (1875–1944) near Santo Tomás in the south of the Matanzas province . Cervera, who accompanied Thomas Barbour on an expedition to the northeast of the Zapata Marshes, was sent back into the marsh by the latter when he heard rumors about strange birds in this area. As a result, he brought three previously unknown bellows with him from his tour with the Kubazwönig, the Zapataammer and the Kubaralle. Barbour and James Lee Peters jointly described the Zapatammer and the Kubaralle in their article Two more remarkable new birds from Cuba in the journal Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club . Barbour had already described the Cuban Wren a year earlier (1926).
The generic name Cyanolimnas is made up of the ancient Greek word kuanos for deep blue and the Latin limmas for rail . The authors used the specific epithet cerverai to honor their discoverer Cervera.
The genus Cyanolimnas is referred to as a genus between Neocrex ( Columbia Sumpfhuhn ( Neocrex colombiana ), Gold's beak Sumpfhuhn ( Neocrex erythrops )) and Pardirallus ( spot Ralle ( Pardirallus maculatus ), sadness Ralle ( Pardirallus nigricans ), gray Ralle ( Pardirallus sanguinolentus considered)). All six species of these three genera have a long beak, five have cloudy plumage and all but one have a red base on the beak. It is believed that all of them are descended from the genus Amaurornis .
Protection status
today
Rails on islands are generally considered to be particularly endangered because they usually only have a limited or no flight ability and are therefore particularly susceptible to introduced predators. At least 15 species have been extinct since 1600 and more than 30 are considered particularly endangered.
By 1931 the Kubaralle appeared to be relatively common in the Santo Tomás area, after which there were no further reports until 1970, when deposits were discovered 65 kilometers from the Laguna del Tesoro . A 1998 census revealed new deposits in Peralta and Hata de Jicarita . Based on these discoveries, it is estimated that 70 to 90 birds live in 230 hectares.
The entire population is estimated at 50 to a maximum of 249 adult specimens, spread over 1000 km². Introduced mongooses and rats are likely serious enemies of the railroad. In November 2001, Hurricane Michelle swept the area. As a result, a breeding site for the African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ) was destroyed, and as a result the species found its way into the swamp. From studies of the stomach contents of captured in the swamp catfish show that they Moorhen - ( Gallinula chloropus ) and Zwergsultanshuhn chicks ( Porphyrio martinica ) had eaten. At the same time, a dramatic decrease in spotted claws ( Pardirallus maculatus ), king claws ( Rallus elegans ) and Carolina moorhens ( Porzana carolina ) was registered. According to Arturo Kirkconnell of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural , there has been a 50-60% decline in these species since the catfish was identified. Based on these findings, the Kubaralle has now been classified as Critically Endangered .
Fires and the cutting of grass for the construction of hut roofs are also possible causes for the rail's disappearance.
As a countermeasure, the Santo Tomás Faunal Refuge and the Laguna del Tesoro ecotourism area have been designated as protected areas.
Potential threats
The government plans to develop the Zapata Swamp as an ecotourism destination to bring much-needed foreign currency into the country from tourists from all over the world. Although the Cuban Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero promised an expansion in a sustainable way, the effects on the ecosystem from the additional people are uncertain.
The Ramsar Convention , on the other hand, sees the Zapata Swamp as threatened in the long term, as rising sea levels and global warming could reduce flora and fauna by 50% by 2100. In addition, climate change leads to significantly more tropical storms and the possible drying up of the swamp.
literature
- James Bond: A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies , Houghton Mifflin, 1999, ISBN 978-0-618-00210-8
- Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando H. Garrido , Allan Keith: Birds of the West Indies , Rinceton University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-691-11319-7
- Clive Roots: Flightless Birds , Greenwood Pub Group, 2006, ISBN 978-0-313-33545-7
- Barry Taylor, Ber van Perlo, Rails , Pica Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-873403-59-4
- James Bond: Additional Notes on West Indian Birds , Proceedings of The Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 94, 1942, pp. 89-104
- Storrs Lovejoy Olson: A new species of Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil rails from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae) , Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. 87, No. 38, pp. 439-450
- Thomas Barbour, Notes on three Cuban birds , The Auk, Vol 45, No. 1, pp. 28–32, 1928 (with picture by Allan Cyril Brooks )
- Thomas Barbour, James Lee Peters: Two more remarkable new birds from Cuba , Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club, Vol 9, 1927, pp. 95-97
- James Lee Peters: Thomas Barbour, 1884-1946 , The Auk, Vol. 65, No. 3, 1948, pp. 432-438.
- Arturo Kirkconnell, Osmany González, Emilio Alfaro, Lázaro Cotayo, Nuevas localidades para la Gallinuela de Santo Tomás Cyanolimnas cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai en la Ciénaga de Zapata, Cuba , Cotinga, Vol 12, 1999, pp. 57-60
Web links
- Cyanolimnas cerverai inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Zapata Rail ( Cyanolimnas cerverai ) . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Zapata Rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Kubaralle ( Cyanolimnas cerverai ) from Avibase; Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- Cyanolimnas cerverai in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- xeno-canto: sound recordings - Zapata Rail ( Cyanolimnas cerverai )
Individual evidence
- ↑ BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Zapata Wren ( Ferminia cerverai ) . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- ↑ BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Cuban Sparrow ( Torreornis inexpectata ) . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- ↑ BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Zapata Rail ( Cyanolimnas cerverai ) . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
- ↑ The Auk Vol. 45, No. 1, 1922 Notes on three Cuban Birds (English; PDF; 384 kB) Original article
- ^ Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol 87, No. 38, 1974, pp. 445–447 Other fossil rails from West Indies: Cyanolimnas cerverai (English; PDF; 1.8 MB) Original article
- ↑ James Bond: A field guide to birds of the West Indies, Zapata Rail, Cyanolimnas cerverai pp. 69–70 A field guide to birds of the West Indies (Engl.)
- ↑ Clive Roots: Flightless Birds , pp. 61–63 Zapata Rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai) (Engl.)
- ↑ Proceedings of The Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 94, 1942 Additional Notes on West Indian Birds - Cyanolimnas cerverai (original article )
- ↑ The Auk, Vol 61, No. 4, 1944 Thomas Barbour, 1884–1946 (English; PDF; 451 kB) Original article
- ↑ Continga, Vol 12, 1999 Nuevas localidades para la Gallinuela de Santo Tomás Cyanolimnas cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai en la Ciénaga de Zapata, Cuba (Spanish; PDF; 89 kB)
- ↑ Cubaheadlines Zapata Rail on the edge (Eng.)
- ↑ Tierramérica Cuba Encourages Tourism in Its Largest Marsh ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
- ↑ The Ramsar Convention The Annotated Ramsar List: Cuba (English.)
