Invisible rail

The invisible rail, Wallaces rail, or drummer rail

(Habroptila wallacii) is a large ightless rail that is
endemic to the island of Halmahera in North Maluku,
Indonesia, where it inhabits impenetrable sago swamps
adjacent to forests. Its plumage is predominantly dark
slate-grey, and the bare skin around its eyes, the long,
thick bill, and the legs are all bright red. Its call is a low
drumming sound which is accompanied by wing-beating.
The diculty of seeing this shy bird in its dense habitat
means that information on its behaviour is limited.

gued that the genus Megacrex was so similar to Habroptila

that Megacrex should be considered a junior synonym of
Habroptila, resulting in two species in the genus.[7] This
was further lumped in Sidney Dillon Ripley's 1977 monograph of the Rallidae; he included Habroptila within the
large genus Rallus. This suggestion was, however, not
accepted by Gerlof Fokko Mees, who pointed out distinct dierences in the shape and structure of the bill.[8]
A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondial
DNA sequence similarity found that Habroptila is part of
Recorded dietary items include sago shoots and insects, evolutionary radiation within the broad genus Gallirallus
[9]
and it also swallows small stones to help break up its food. that took place around 400,000 years ago in the region.
It is apparently monogamous, but little else is known of
its courtship behaviour. The only known nest was a shallow bowl in the top of a rotting tree stump that was lined 2 Description
with wood chips and dry leaves. The two young chicks
were entirely covered in black down typical of precocial
newly hatched rails. The estimated population of 3,500
15,000 birds and the restricted range mean that the invisible rail is classied as Vulnerable by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Habitat loss
has occurred through the harvesting of sago and conversion of the wetlands to rice cultivation, and the rail is
eaten by local people. The described nest was in an area
frequented by local villagers, so the rail may be more
adaptable to habitat changes than was previously thought.

Taxonomy

The rails are a large and very widespread family, with

nearly 150 species. They are small to medium-sized, terrestrial or wetland birds, and their short bodies are often
attened laterally to help them move through dense vegetation. Island species readily become ightless; of 53 ex- Habroptila wallacii on a 2012 Indonesian stamp
tant or recently extinct taxa restricted to islands, 32 have
lost the ability to y.[2]
The invisible rail is a large, 33 to 40 cm (1316 in) long,
The invisible rail, rst classied by English zoologist ightless bird.[1] The adult has a mainly dark slate-grey
George Robert Gray in 1860, is the only member of the body, dark brown plumage on the lower back, rump and
monotypic genus Habroptila.[1] The genus name Habrop- wings, and a black uppertail. Its underparts are slightly
tila derives from the Greek habros, delicate, pretty, paler slate-grey than the back, and the bare skin around
splendid and ptilon, feather, wing";[3] wallacii com- the eye, the long, thick bill and the strong legs are bright
memorates British zoologist Alfred Russel Wallace.[4] red.[10] It has a small spine at the bend of the wings.[11]
Local names include soisa, tibiales and rie.[5]
The sexes are identical in appearance; the plumage of
[10]
This rail is related to the New Guinea ightless rail, edged immature birds has not been described.
Megacrex inepta, and the chestnut rail, Eulabeornis cas- The invisible rail is supercially similar to the purple
taneoventris, all three Australasian genera probably being swamphen, Porphyrio porphyrio, which has recently been
derived from Amaurornis ancestors.[1][6] Storrs Olson ar- found in Halmahera, but that species is larger, with a
1

BEHAVIOUR

short, thick red bill and a red forehead shield; it also has
purple underparts and a white undertail.[10] The invisible
rail is dierent from the Calayan rail, Gallirallus calayanensis, in that it is larger and lacks the barred plumage of
that species; there is no overlap between the ranges of the
two species.[12]
The call is a low drumming, accompanied by a tuk, tuk,
tuk made with the wings.[10] The nature of the vocalisation led to a local legend that the sound is made by the bird
beating on a hollow tree or branch with its feet.[5] Gerd
Heinrich noted the local name soisa, meaning drum,
and described the call as being a subdued drumming purre
purre purre purre purre which sometimes ends in
a loud shrill scream. The bird also produced a dull hum
similar to the voice of the banded pig (Sus scrofa vittatus)
and reminiscent of the call of the snoring rail (Aramidopsis plateni).[13] Calling is most frequent in the early
morning or late evening, and a human tapping a sago stem
with a machete may elicit a response from the bird.[10] A
quieter version of the call is given at the nest.[14] Other
sounds attributed to this rail, such as loud screams, may
be incorrect, since they are like those produced by the
pale-vented bush-hen (Amaurornis moluccana).[10]
Sago palms

Distribution and habitat

The invisible rail inhabits the dense, spiky sago swamps

of Halmahera, particularly where forest adjoins the boggy
areas. Claims that the rail occurs in alang-alang grass
are thought to have arisen from confusion with the palevented bush-hen.[10][15] German ornithologist Gerd Heinrich, who prepared for his Halmahera trip by rolling in
stinging nettles, wrote of the sago swamp habitat in the
1930s:[16]

I am solidly condent no European has ever

seen this rail alive, for that requires such a degree of toughening and such demands on oneself as I cannot so easily attribute to others.
Habroptila is shielded by the awful thorns of
the sago swamps... In this thorn wilderness, I
walked barefoot and half-naked for weeks.

Sightings of the rail from 1950 to 2003 were from a restricted area of West Halmahera Regency, at the base of
the western peninsula of the island, but it was recorded
prior to 1950 as far as the southern point of Halmahera.[6]
More recent records showed that it is still present in
a signicantly larger area, including the northeast of
the island,[14] and locals claim that it also occurs in the
swamps near Kao, in the northwest.[6]

4 Behaviour
The dicult habitat and retiring nature of the invisible rail mean that information on its lifestyle is sparse,
and there are few conrmed sightings.[17] Recorded food
items include sago shoots and insects. It also feeds at cut
sago plants, although it is unclear whether it is eating the
decaying plant or searching for other edible items.[6] It
swallows small stones, as do all rails, to help break up its
food in the gizzard.[18]
The invisible rail is thought to be monogamous, but little
else is known of its courtship behaviour prior to nesting.
A report of 45 striped chicks was long thought to be
incorrect, since such a plumage is not normal for rails.[6]
In this family, chicks are typically precocial, downy and
black, with any ornamentation conned to the head, bare
esh, or specially modied plume feathers.[19]
The issue was resolved in November 2010 when a nest
was found in the top of a rotting tree stump, 1 m (39 in)
above ground level and 46 m (151 ft) in from the edge
of a dry swamp forest in Aketajawe-Lolobata National
Park. The nest depression was 15 cm (5.9 in) in depth,
with a lower layer of small wood chips at its base and
a lining of dead leaves. The egg shells were brownishwhite with dark brown and black markings of dierent
sizes. The two very young chicks were entirely covered
in black down, contrasting with a white pollux (the equivalent of the thumbnail on a human hand) and pink index
nail. The bill was black with a white tip, and the legs were
black-streaked brown. The eyes had grey irises and blue

3
pupils. Rail chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, so
the chicks were assumed to be only a day or two old.[14]

Status

Bird species with a restricted range are especially vulnerable to human activities, and eight of the 26 bird species
occurring only in the Northern Maluku Endemic Bird
Area are threatened, including the invisible rail.[6] Almost a quarter of all rail species have conservation concerns, and ightless island species are particularly at risk,
at least 15 species having become extinct since 1600.[20]
The estimated population of the invisible rail is 3,500
15,000 birds,[17] and its restricted range and small population mean that the species is classied as Vulnerable
by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN),[1] although this rail is so poorly known that it
may be more common than the estimates suggest.[6]

[8] Mees, G F (1982). Birds from the lowlands of southern

New Guinea (Merauke and Koembe)". Zoologische Verhandelingen 191: 1188.
[9] Kirchman, Jeremy J (2012). Speciation of Flightless
Rails on Islands: A DNA-based phylogeny of the typical rails of the Pacic. The Auk 129 (1): 5669.
doi:10.1525/auk.2011.11096.
[10] Taylor & van Berlo (1998) pp. 451452.
[11] Gray, George Robert (1860). List of birds collected by
Mr. Wallace at the Molucca Islands, with descriptions of
new species, &c. Proceedings of the Zoological Society
of London 28: 365.
[12] Allen, Desmond; Oliveros, Carl; Espaola, Carmela;
Broad, Genevieve; Gonzalez, Juan Carlos T (2004). A
new species of Gallirallus from Calayan island, Philippines (PDF). Forktail: Journal of Asian Ornithology 20:
17. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
[13] Heinrich, Gerd (1956).
Biologische Aufzeichnungen ber Vgel von Halmahera und Batjan. Journal fr Ornithologie (in German) 97 (1): 3140.
doi:10.1007/BF01670833.

Habitat loss has occurred through commercial harvesting of the sago,[6] or conversion to rice cultivation and
shponds.[1] The rail is a prized food for local people [14] Bashari, Hanom; van Balen, Bas (2011). First breedwho catch it with traps made from strings of bark and
ing record of the Invisible Rail Habroptila wallacii".
hunt it with dogs.[10] The only described nest was in an
BirdingASIA 15: 2022.
area well-used by local villagers, and the rail may be more
adaptable to habitat changes than was previously thought. [15] Flach, Michiel (1997). Sago palm: Metroxylon sagu
Rottb. Promoting the conservation and use of underutiThere were also several sightings in northeast Halmahera
lized and neglected crops (PDF) 13. Gatersleben, Gerin 2008 and 2011, extending the area in which this bird
many/Rome: Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant
has been seen in recent years.[14]
Research/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.
pp. 2123. ISBN 978-92-9043-314-9.

References

[1] BirdLife International (2012). "Habroptila wallacii".

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
[2] Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie,
David A; de Juana, Eduardo (eds.) (2013). Rails,
Gallinules and Coots. Handbook of the Birds of the
World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 13
April 2014. (subscription required)
[3] , . Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A
GreekEnglish Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
[4] Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientic Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 184,
406. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
[5] de Haan, G A L (1950). Notes on the Invisible Flightless
Rail of Halmahera (Habroptila wallacii Gray)". Amsterdam Naturalist 1: 5760.
[6] Invisible Rail Habroptila wallacii" (PDF). Birdbase.
Hokkaido Institute of Environmental Sciences. Retrieved
17 June 2011.
[7] Olson, Storrs L (1973). A classication of the Rallidae
(PDF). Wilson 85 (4): 381416.

[16] Collar, Nigel J (2009). Pioneer of Asian ornithology:

Gerd Heinrich (PDF). BirdingASIA 11: 3340.
[17] Invisible Rail Habroptila wallacii". Species factsheet.
BirdLife International. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
[18] Taylor & van Berlo (1998) p. 39.
[19] Krebs, Elizabeth A; Putland, David A (2004). Chic
chicks: the evolution of chick ornamentation in
rails (PDF). Behavioral Ecology 15 (6): 946951.
doi:10.1093/beheco/arh078.
[20] Taylor & van Berlo (1998) pp. 5661.

7 Cited texts
Taylor, Barry; van Perlo, Ber (1998). Rails.
Robertsbridge, East Sussex: Pica / Christopher
Helm. ISBN 1-873403-59-3.

8 External links
Drumming at xeno-cato
Six images of adult and chicks at Oriental Bird Images

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