Buff-banded Rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis)

Other Scientific Names
Gallirallus sharpei [Other], Rallus philippensis [Turbott (1990)]

Other Names (World)
Buff-banded Rail, Banded Land Rail, Banded Rail, Land Rail, Painted Rail, Painted Landrail, Striped Rail, Striped Landrail, Pectoral Rail, Pectoral Landrail, Little Tarler Bird

Family
Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules, Coots)

Size
28 - 33 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Derivation
Gal-li-rall'-us - L., feminine form from gallus, a game bird; N.L., rallus, rail: philippensis - N.L., of the Philippines

Abundance (Guide)
C

Common. More common on coast than sightings would suggest. Sedentary, nomadic and dispersive.

Habitat
Scrub and rank herbage in swamp areas, margins of streams and cultivated paddocks, sand-cays and islands on the Great Barrier Reef.

Range (Guide)

American Samoa, Australia, Cocos (Keeling) Islands (B), Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand (B), Niue, Norfolk Island, Palau (B), Papua New Guinea, Philippines (B), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Vagrant to Mauritius.

Australia generally, including Tasmania, but absent from the arid interior.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 24,000 - 200,000 (2010).

Status LC
Probably secure.

See also EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna for subspecies andrewsi (Cocos - Keeling Islands) and EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna for subspecies macquariensis (Macquarie Island - extinct).

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly or in pairs.

Food
Insects, freshwater molluscs, seeds and green shoots of aquatic plants.

Voice
A squeaky 'swiit' and a loud, far-carrying, creaky, harsh 'kiek' or 'priep'. Also a triple noted, 'tchuk-e teika' and braying sounds.

(60Kb) © ? (2)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (26)...)

Buff-banded Rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis) [XC592448]
by Dominik Maximili\u00e1n Ram\u00edk from Herdsman Lake, City of Stirling, Western Australia, Australia (uncertain)

Buff-banded Rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis) [XC599860]
by Marc Anderson from Lowlipag, Vanuatu (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
August - March, or after rain.

Nest
Saucer-shaped, composed of dried grasses and herbage, usually in or near a tussock of grass or among vegatation.

Eggs (Guide)
5 - 8, but up to 11; biscuit, lightly blotched with red-brown and purple-grey; swollen-oval; about 36 x 28 mm. Incubation: 18 - 19 days; by both sexes.

Young
Precocial, nidifugous.

Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Guam Rail (Hypotaenidia owstoni), and perhaps with Roviana Rail (Hypotaenidia rovianae); probably also with extinct Wake Rail (Hypotaenidia wakensis), Tahiti Rail (Hypotaenidia pacifica), Dieffenbach's Rail (Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii) and Chatham Rail (Cabalus modestus).

Extinct form dieffenbachii sometimes included as subspecies, but now generally considered specifically distinct. Subspecies macquariensis of Macquarie I recently extinct.

The following 21 subspecies are recognised:

andrewsi (Mathews, 1911) - Cocos (Keeling) Is.
philippensis (Linnaeus, 1766) - Philippines; Sulawesi east to Buru; Sumba (race?), Alor, Sawu, Roti and Timor.
pelewensis (Mayr, 1933) - Palau Is.
xerophilus (van Bemmel & Hoogerwerf, 1940) - Gunungapi (Lesser Sundas).
wilkinsoni (Mathews, 1911) - Flores.
lacustris (Mayr, 1938) - Northern New Guinea.
reductus (Mayr, 1938) - Central highlands and north-eastern coastal New Guinea, including Long I.
anachoretae (Mayr, 1949) - Kaniet (Anchorite) Is, Nwest of Ninigo Is.
admiralitatis (Stresemann, 1929) - Admiralty Is.
praedo (Mayr, 1949) - Skoki (Admiralty Is).
lesouefi (Mathews, 1911) - New Hanover, Tabar and Tanga Is, and possibly New Ireland (Bismarck Archipelago).
meyeri (Hartert, 1930) - New Britain and Witu Is (Bismarck Archipelago).
christophori (Mayr, 1938) - Solomon Is.
mellori (Mathews, 1912) - Southern & south-western New Guinea, Australia and Norfolk I.
assimilis (Gray, GR, 1843) - New Zealand.
tounelieri Schodde & Naurois, 1982 - Coral Sea islets, from south-eastern New Guinea archipelagos and Great Barrier Reef east to Surprise group (off northern New Caledonia).
swindellsi (Mathews, 1911) - New Caledonia and Loyalty Is.
sethsmithi (Mathews, 1911) - Vanuatu and Fiji.
ecaudatus (Miller, JF, 1783) - Tonga.
goodsoni (Mathews, 1911) - Samoa and Niue I.
macquariensis ! (Hutton, FW, 1879) - Macquarie I. Extinct.

Similar Species
Lewin's Rail (Lewinia pectoralis) which is smaller, has a longer pinkish bill, and lacks a white eyebrow and breastband and has barred wings.

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References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

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