Galapagos crake

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Galapagos crake
Laterallus spilonotus.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Laterallus
Species:
L. spilonota
Binomial name
Laterallus spilonota
(Gould, 1841)
Synonyms
  • Laterallus spilonotus

The Galapagos crake or Galapagos rail (Laterallus spilonota) is a small rail endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It resembles its sister species, the black rail of The Americas, from which it diverged 1.2 million years ago.[2] It is threatened by introduced species, such as goats and cats, and is considered vulnerable.

Description[]

The Galapagos crake is a small (15 cm) nearly flightless ground living bird. It has dark plumage, black overall with a greyer head and breast, and white spots on the back. It has a scarlet eye, a black bill, and short, nearly useless wings. They are very vocal with a wide range of calls.

Habits[]

The Galapagos crake lives in moist grasslands and forest, skulking in deep cover. In the Galapagos these habitats are generally found on islands with higher elevations (particularly on the islands of Santiago, Santa Cruz and Sierra Negra), and the rails are commonest higher up. They feed on invertebrates, mostly snails, isopods, dragonflies, bugs, ants, also taking berries and some seeds. They feed during the day, moving along the ground tossing leaves and investigating the leaf litter.[citation needed]

Unlike many island-dwelling rails, the Galapagos rail can fly, though not very well and not for long distances. Its flight has been described as awkward and laboured.[3]

Galapagos crakes and humans[]

The Galapagos crake, despite being a nearly flightless island living rail, has managed to survive the arrival of humans in the Galapagos. It is a confiding species that is curious of humans and will approach and investigate them, this naivety makes it vulnerable to feral cats, dogs and pigs. Introduced goats and cattle also cause habitat loss that causes a drop in their numbers. The removal of goats and cattle, and the resulting regeneration of trees, shrubs and grasses, leads quickly to a return of the rail. As most of the Galapagos crake's habitat lies in a national park, and efforts are underway[when?] to remove the introduced species doing the most harm, the future is looking better for these birds.

References[]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Laterallus spilonotus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ Chaves, Jaime A.; Martinez-Torres, Pedro J.; Depino, Emiliano A.; Espinoza-Ulloa, Sebastian; García-Loor, Jefferson; Beichman, Annabel C.; Stervander, Martin (2020-11-12). "Evolutionary History of the Galápagos Rail Revealed by Ancient Mitogenomes and Modern Samples". Diversity. 12 (11): 425. doi:10.3390/d12110425. ISSN 1424-2818.
  3. ^ Franklin, A. B.; Clark, D. A.; Clark, D. B. (1979). "Ecology and behavior of the Galapagos Rail". The Wilson Bulletin. 91 (2): 202–221. JSTOR 4161201.
  • Taylor, B. (1998) Rails, a Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-07758-2

External links[]

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