Genus Gallirallus

Weka - Weka are predominantly rich brown mottled with black and grey; the brown shade varies from pale to dark depending on subspecies. At over 50 cm long, the male is about 1 kg and the female is about 700 g. The reddish-brown beak is about 5 cm long, stout and tapered, and used as a weapon. The pointed tail is near-constantly being flicked, a sign of unease characteristic of the rail family. Weka have sturdy legs and reduced wings.

 

Calayan Rail - The Calayan Rail is one of the 20 known extant flightless rails. It is small and dark brown, with a distinctive orange-red bill and legs, and utters loud, harsh calls. Its habitat seems to be restricted to forests on coralline limestone areas on Calayan and extends to a total of less than 100 kmĀ². Biologists estimate that there may be 200 pairs on the island.

 

Dieffenbach's Rail - The Dieffenbach's Rail was a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It was endemic to New Zealand. It became extinct due to introduced predators.

 

New Britain Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.

 

New Caledonian Rail - This cryptic rail is only known from seventeen specimens taken between 1860 and 1890 on New Caledonia. This bird is supposed to live in evergreen forests and seems to have moved higher up on the island to escape introduced predators. Its diet consists of invertebrates, including earthworms.

 

Okinawa Rail - The Okinawa Rail is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the Yanbaru Kuina . Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 although unidentified rails had been recorded on the island since at least 1973 and local stories of a bird known as the agachi kumira may refer to this species.

 

Guam Rail - Nine of the 11 species of native forest-dwelling birds have been extirpated from Guam. Five of these were endemic at the species or subspecies level and are now extinct on Guam. Two of these species, the Guam Rail and the Micronesian Kingfisher, are being captively bred in zoos in the hope that they can eventually be released back into the wild. Several other native species exist in precariously small numbers, and their future on Guam is perilous. Most native forest species, including the Guam rail, were virtually extinct when they were listed as threatened or endangered by the US.

 

Tahiti Rail - Rothschild, 1907

Buff-banded Rail - The Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the family Rallidae.

 

Roviana Rail - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations .

 

Blue-breasted Banded Rail - Breeding has been recorded from July in the foothills of the Himalayas from Dehradun in the west.

Lord Howe Woodhen - Woodhens mate for life and are usually encountered in pairs. They are territorial and will appear from the forest's understory to investigate the source of any unusual noise. A mated pair will defend an area of approximately 3 hectares, with offspring being expelled from this area once grown. The population of birds is thus restricted by the amount of available territory.

Barred Rail - The Barred Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines.

 

Wake Island Rail - The extinct Wake Island Rail was a flightless rail and the only native land bird on the Pacific atoll of Wake. It was found on the islands of Wake and Wilkes, but not on Peale, which is separated from the others by a channel of about 100 meters.

Order : Gruiformes
Family : Rallidae
Genus : Gallirallus