The Andaman crake (''Rallina canningi'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rallidae Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

of the eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Taxonomy and systematics

It was first described as the Andaman banded crake ''Euryzona canningi'' by Blyth in the 1863 issue of the journal, ''

Ibis The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

''. Later, it was treated as Andamaneese banded crake ''Rallina canningi'' by

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

in 1929. Subsequently, Ripley and Ali retained Baker's scientific name for the species, while reverting to Blyth's common name.

Description

This is the largest

Rallina ''Rallina'' is a genus of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It contains four species found in forest and marshland in Asia and Australasia. They are 18–34 cm long and mainly chestnut or brown, often with black and white markings. Four Af ...

, measuring about 34 cm in length. It has a glossy chestnut plumage, extensive bold barring on underparts, unbarred undertail-coverts, relatively bright apple-green bill and relatively long and fluffy tail; legs and feet are olive-green. It also has pale barring on wings confined to outer

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

and greater and medium coverts. Juveniles are duller and less prominently barred.BLI (2008) Other similar looking crakes include other ''

'' and ruddy-breasted crake ''Porzana fusca''. They are smaller and do not have green bill and legs. Immature birds are duller overall with the barred areas being dark grey-brown with a chestnut tinge, narrowly banded and streaked dirty white. Juvenile birds are paler than adult. Voice is a deep croak. It utters a sharp click as an alarm call.

Distribution and habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

land inside subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. It is known from North, Middle and South Andaman islands and may occur on other islands such as Great Coco or middle Coco Islands. It was formerly classified as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

, due to the lack of reliable information on its status. Later studies showed it to be fairly common in suitable habitat. Consequently, it has been listed at

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

status in 2017. BirdLife International estimates the population to range between 10,000 and 25,000 individuals.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

It breeds between June and August. It nests at the bottom of large trees with buttresses or under tangled undergrowth in forests. In one study, the species preferred trees such as ''

Terminalia Terminalia may refer to: * Terminalia (festival) Terminalia () was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. His statue was merely a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between propert ...

'', ''

Tetrameles nudiflora ''Tetrameles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Tetramelaceae with one species, ''Tetrameles nudiflora''. It grows as a large deciduous tree and is found across southern Asia from India through southeast Asia, Malesia, and into northe ...

'' or ''

Pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical tree genus in the Fabaceae family. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus'' yi ...

'', possibly near waterbodies. Its eggs are similar to those of the banded crake but larger, whiter and more glossy. Both sexes share in incubation. According to

, the eggs are about .

Food and feeding

Much like other crakes, it feeds on small fish, molluscs, worms and insects (beetles, grasshoppers and caterpillars). Large grasshoppers shaken about and battered before swallowing.

Threats to survival

In the 1980s, the crake was considered to be quite common on the islands; over 80 birds were snared in a square mile. It is much rare now even though there are extensive forests in the islands. Introduced predators may also pose a risk to the birds' population.

Footnotes

References

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

(BLI) (2008)
2008 IUCN Redlist status changes
. Retrieved 23 May 2008. {{Taxonbar, from=Q760447

Andaman crake The Andaman crake (''Rallina canningi'') is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to the Andaman Islands of the eastern Indian Ocean. Taxonomy and systematics It was first described as the Andaman banded crake ''Euryzona canningi' ...

Birds of the Andaman Islands

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic birds of India