| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | GRUIFORMES | RALLIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Gallirallus australis | |||
| Species Authority: | (Sparrman, 1786) | |||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Vulnerable A3bce ver 3.1 | ||||||||||||
| Year Published: | 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | ||||||||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Mahood, S., Butchart, S. | ||||||||||||
| Contributor/s: | Weeber, B., Beauchamp, A., Hitchmough, R., King, D., Bartle, S. | ||||||||||||
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Justification: This species's future hold on its mainland range is precarious, with a complex array of threats causing rapid declines resulting in local extinctions. Its situation may be unique in that the species remains numerous on a very large number of islands. Whilst population declines have slowed to an extent over the last ten years, the species is projected to undergo rapid population declines over the next decade based on extrapolation from historic trends, the absence of any change in the threatening processes, and the impact of climate change. It is therefore considered Vulnerable. |
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| History: |
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| Range Description: | Gallirallus australis is endemic to New Zealand. Subspecies greyi is mostly restricted to the east coast of the North Island, and experienced significant declines after the early 1980s to c.4,000 birds3,4,6. Several releases to former mainland habitats have been attempted, but most have been largely unsuccessful3 owing to high levels of predation. However, introduced populations at Russell and Kawakawa Bay, as well as the main remnant population on the east coast of the North Island between Motu and Opitiki, have all expanded and the total population size of this subspecies is now estimated at 8,000 individuals12. Nominate australis remains locally common in north and west South Island3,5, but numbers fluctuate dramatically, even in large populations3. In north-west Nelson, numbers plummeted by c.95%4, in north Westland, counts indicate declines of over 90% in c.20 years1, and declines were also noted in Fiordland. However, a number of reintroductions and predator control for the benefit of a number of threatened mainland species have led to recent increases in parts of the South Island10,12. Subspecies hectori is now extinct in its natural range, but was introduced to Chatham and Pitt Islands where it may number between 38,000-58,000 birds4, and survives a take of 5,000 birds annually3. Some individuals of this subspecies have been returned to islands on lakes in the South Island and a mainland release is anticipated12. Subspecies scotti became extinct on Stewart Island in the 1990s6, but introduced populations survive on surrounding islands5. Their total numbers are thought to be less than 8,000 and declining12. Overall, the four races are present (many as introduced populations) on more than 70, mostly tiny, offshore islands3. Whilst there have been no major declines in the last ten years, future population crashes are predicted, as climate change is likely to increase the probability of such events occurring10. |
| Countries: |
Native:
New Zealand
|
| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Population: | 50,000-100,000 australis (but large fluctuations: Beauchamp et al. 1999, Heather and Robertson 1997); 4,000 greyi (Beauchamp et al. 1999, A. J. Beauchamp in litt. 2000, D. King in litt. 1999); 38,000-58,000 hectori on Chatham and Pitt Islands (A. J. Beauchamp in litt. 2000); <25,000 scotti on islands around Stewart Island (A. J. Beauchamp in litt. 2000). |
| Population Trend: |
Decreasing
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| Habitat and Ecology: | It utilises most habitats, including forests, grasslands, scrub, inland and coastal wetlands and even semi-urban environments. It is omnivorous, taking mostly fruit and invertebrates, but also vertebrates3,7. Birds breed in their first year and eggs are laid year-round8. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | Rapid declines are due to a combination of habitat clearance and degradation, road-kills, a wide range of introduced mammalian predators and competitors, combinations of drought and flood years, poison baits used for possum and rabbit control, and disease2,3,5,6. Birds have been eradicated from several islands due to possible risks to other native biota, and removal from Pitt and other islands is a future possibility3. |
| Conservation Actions: |
Conservation Actions Underway Further island translocations are planned3. Surveys of distribution and density are presently being completed in parts of the mainland range considered to be strongholds4,6. Conservation Actions Proposed Conduct research on impacts and management of threats3. Implement monitoring programmes in appropriate sites for all taxa. Identify the most important threats affecting sites and instigate management programmes to address these. Establish further populations to ensure each taxon has at least one large mainland population and three island populations. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2008. Gallirallus australis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012. |
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