Post by another specialist on Nov 8, 2005 8:25:01 GMT
Rail awaits discovery
26-09-2002
Guy Dutson of BirdLife's Pacific Division observed and photographed an unknown rail on the island of Malaita, Solomon Islands, in July 2002. The rail closely resembled the flightless Woodford's Rail Nesoclopeus woodfordi known from four other islands in the Solomons, but was browner with more pale spots on the wings. Malaita is a poorly-known island with several endemic species, and this rail could well be a new species. Meanwhile, there have been many more sightings of Woodford's Rail in recent years, especially on Bougainville and Guadalcanal islands. These rails may be exploiting an increase in their damp grassland habitat, which is growing up in many recently abandoned plantations and fields. Although predation of this flightless rail must be a concern, it may prove to be a species that can be down-listed from Vulnerable to Near Threatened status on the basis of its increasing habitat and numbers.
World Birdwatch September 2002 24.3
www.birdlife.org/news/news/2002/09/675.html
26-09-2002
Guy Dutson of BirdLife's Pacific Division observed and photographed an unknown rail on the island of Malaita, Solomon Islands, in July 2002. The rail closely resembled the flightless Woodford's Rail Nesoclopeus woodfordi known from four other islands in the Solomons, but was browner with more pale spots on the wings. Malaita is a poorly-known island with several endemic species, and this rail could well be a new species. Meanwhile, there have been many more sightings of Woodford's Rail in recent years, especially on Bougainville and Guadalcanal islands. These rails may be exploiting an increase in their damp grassland habitat, which is growing up in many recently abandoned plantations and fields. Although predation of this flightless rail must be a concern, it may prove to be a species that can be down-listed from Vulnerable to Near Threatened status on the basis of its increasing habitat and numbers.
World Birdwatch September 2002 24.3
www.birdlife.org/news/news/2002/09/675.html
