Buff-banded Rail
Hypotaenidia philippensis· 秧鸡科(3 photos)
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Buff-banded Rail
28-33 cm. Elegant rail with red-brown bill, white eyebrow and rich chestnut stripe from bill through eye to nape; grey breast crossed by buff band; underparts and undertail finely banded black and buff-white. Juvenile: duller; lacks chestnut nape and breastband. Singles, pairs, families: shy, mostly keeps to cover but becomes remarkably tame on some island resorts, e.g. Heron I. (Q), in gardens, etc. Walks hunched or elegantly tall; tail flicked when nervous. Ventures from low, dense vegetation to forage on edge of water, bare wettish ground or saltmarsh. Runs fast: in flight, note extended neck, rounded wings, trailing legs. Active, flies at night: arrives unexpectedly in homestead gardens; tennis courts, cattle yards.
- Other name
- Banded Landrail or Rail.
- Similar Species
- Lewin's Rail: longer pink bill; no white eyebrow or breastband; wings barred.
- Voice
- high-pitched double cheeps, like House Sparrow, or Galah; territorial call 'coo-aw-ooo-aw-ooo-aw' like braying donkey; repetitive sharp clicks; coos; thudding grunts; 'crek's, squeaks and rattles.
- Habitat
- fringes of rainforest; rank vegetation in swamps, marshes, creeks; wet paddocks, scrubby woodlands, heathland, crops, rank pastures; samphire in brackish swamps, saltmarsh; environs of tourist resorts; garbage tips, lawns, well-vegetated gardens. On islands, mangroves; drier, more open habitats.
- Breeding
- Aug.-March; any month after rains.
- Nest
- cup of grass and leaves in tussock or sedge.
- Eggs
- 5-8+; off-white to buff, spotted and blotched red-brown, heavily at large end; underlying lilac-grey blotches.
- Range & Status
- e., se. and coastal n. Aust.; Kimberley and coastal WA and many islands; vagrant Tas. Erratic inland and drier coastal areas in good seasons. Sedentary; dispersive. Also Lord Howe, Norfolk Is.; PNG to Philippines; Cocos-Keeling Is. (Indian Ocean); many Pacific islands; NZ.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Gallirallus philippensis mellori 2. Gallirallus philippensis tounelieri 3. Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi (Cocos Keeling Is.) 4. Gallirallus philippensis macquariensis (Macquarie I.)
