Wood rail

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wood rail
Wood rail (Gallirallus sylvestris)

Wood rail ( Gallirallus sylvestris )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Crane birds (Gruiformes)
Family : Rallen (Rallidae)
Genre : Gallirallus
Type : Wood rail
Scientific name
Gallirallus sylvestris
( Sclater , 1869)

The wood rail ( Gallirallus sylvestris , English: Lord Howe Woodhen or Lord Howe Island Rail ) is a flightless bird from the Rallen family (Rallidae). She is an endemic resident of Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast.

Appearance

The wood rail is 35-40 cm tall, with the males being slightly larger than the females. The wingspan is about 49 cm. The animals are monochrome olive-brown on the upper side and slightly gray on the underside, with a whitish chin. The wings are banded black and red. The short tail is better developed than that of the fur claw ( Gallirallus lafresnayanus ), the wings, however, are more receding than this one. It has a downward curved beak.

habitat

It lives in various closed forests on Lord Howe Island. At high altitudes, it lives in the mossy wet forests there. In the lower elevations it lives in forests of hard- leaf vegetation , mainly consisting of forests of palms of the species Howea forsteriana . It can hardly be found in the island's rainforests.

It feeds on molluscs , insect larvae , earthworms , crustaceans , fruits as well as on eggs and juveniles of the shearwaters and petrels .

Decline and salvation

When Lord Howe Island was discovered in 1788, the wood rail was a common bird there. Around 1800 it was still widespread from sea level to mountain peaks, but since the middle of the 19th century it has been limited to the high areas. In 1969, research showed that only 20 to 25 specimens survived, exclusively on the slopes of Mount Gower. In 1978 there was still a population that comprised only 10–13 breeding pairs that had their territories on the highest mountain of the islands in a remote area. At higher altitudes, adult and chick mortality was highest, while feral pigs prevented the animals from colonizing the surrounding areas. From 1978 to 1980 it was found that a high mortality rate of the adult forest rallies reduced the number of females to such an extent that not all territories could be occupied, although adolescent animals participated in the breeding business. In 1980 there were only 3 healthy adult animals that were caught and brought to a breeding facility. Between 1981 and 1985, 85 of the offspring were released. Feral pigs and domestic cats were also exterminated. In 2002 the population was between 250 and 300 pieces.

The analysis of the threats to the forest rail and the solution found serve as a prime example of species protection . On the island, there were a number of possible reasons for the decline, from introduced rats to the Tasmanian barn owl . Only eliminating the pigs could save the railroad from extinction , and identifying the cause and finding a solution in good time was critical to the success of the program.

Today, dogs that are not adequately monitored by their owners can become a problem. The introduced Tasmanian barn owl ( Tyto castanops ) is the greatest threat that still exists for this species on the island. It is believed that she is responsible for the significant decline in the population in Little Slope.

literature

  • PJ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds , Volume 2, Raptors to Lapwings, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-553069-1 .
  • B. Miller, KJ Mullette: Rehabilitation of an endangered Australian bird: The Lord Howe Island woodhen Tricholimnas sylvestris (Sclater) . Biological Conservation [BIOL. CONSERV.]. Vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 55-95. 1985.
  • I. Hutton, JP Parkes, ARE Sinclair: Reassembling island ecosystems: the case of Lord Howe Island . Animal Conservation 10 (1), 22-29. (2007) doi : 10.1111 / j.1469-1795.2006.00077.x

Web links

Commons : Wood Rail ( Gallirallus sylvestris )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files