Henderson crake

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Henderson crake
File:Porzana atra.Imagen fija003.jpg
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Zapornia
Species:
Z. atra
Binomial name
Zapornia atra
(North, 1908)
Synonyms

Nesophylax ater
Porzana atra

The Henderson crake or red-eyed crake (Zapornia atra), also Henderson Island crake or Henderson Island rail, is a species of flightless bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to Henderson Island in the southeast Pacific Ocean. Its natural habitat is dense to open forest.[1]

The population of this species is estimated to be 5,600 mature individuals, roughly equivalent to 8,500 individuals in total.[1]

Habitat and ecology

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The species is found in dense to open forest throughout the island plateau, both in forest dominated by Pisonia and Pisonia/Xylosma, and in Timonius thicket, also occurring in PandanusThespesiaArgusia embayment forests and coconut groves on the beaches.[2] It is omnivorous and appears to be an opportunistic feeder, taking advantage of seasonal increases in prey.[2] It forages in the leaf-litter, gleaning items—such as skink Emoia cyanura eggs—from the undersides of fallen leaves, large nematodes, beetles, moths, spiders, dead caterpillars, land snails and small insects.[2] The breeding season is long, extending from late July to mid February (double broods are not uncommon) and clutch-size is 2–3.[2] Helpers may provide extraparental care, such as defending eggs and chicks from crabs and rats. Based on a small sample, adult annual survival is at least 43%, and reproductive success is a minimum of 0.95 chicks surviving to one month old per pair, per annum.[2]

The population of the species was severely affected by a failed rodent eradication campaign on Henderson in 2011, but had returned to pre-eradication levels by 2015.[1][3]

References

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