Henderson crake
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
| Henderson crake | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific 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 | |
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
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 Pandanus–Thespesia–Argusia 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]
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