THE WORLD BIRDS - An Online Bird Book
GRUIFORMES
Gruiformes means "crane-like", The order include 14 species of large cranes, about 145 species of smaller crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising a small number of species.
Guiformes has the following families
Family Rallidae: Crakes, Rails (Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe)
See also Crakes, Rails (New World)
The
crakes, and
rails of the
Railidae family generally occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are omnivores.
Most nest in dense vegetation. Most species walk and run vigorously on strong legs, and have long toes which are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces. Some coots and gallinules have a "frontal shield",
which is a fleshy rearward extension of the upper bill. The flight of those Rallidae able to fly, while not very powerful, can be sustained for long periods of time and many species undertake annual migrations.
Genus Aenigmatolimnas - 1 species
Crake,_Striped Aenigmatolimnas marginalis Found: Afica
Image by: 1)
James_Hogg - Rwanda
1) Female
Genus Amaurornis
Mostly found in Asia; Black Crake found in Africa
Bush-hen,_Isabelline also
Sulawesi Waterhen Amaurornis isabellina Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Ariefrahman 2)
Sergey_Yeliseev

Bush-hen,_Plain Amaurornis olivacea Found: Philippines
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi
Bush-hen,_Rufous-tailed also
Rufous-tailed Waterhen Amaurornis moluccana Found: Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Image by: 1)
Tom_Tarrant
Bush-hen,_Talaud Amaurornis magnirostris Found: Karakelang Island in the Talaud Islands of Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Jim_Wardill
Crake,_Black Amaurornis flavirostra also
Zapornia flavirostra Found: Africa
Image by: 1)
Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia
2, 3) Arno Meintjes 4)
Lip Kee
Yap 5)
Pascal Charbonneau - South
Africa 6)
Dick Daniels - Bronx Zoo
1) Juvenile





Crake,_Brown also
Brown Bush-hen Amaurornis akool also
Zapornia akool Found: south Asia
Image by:
1, 2) J M Garg - India

Rail,_Sakalava Amaurornis olivieri Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1)
Laval Roy
Waterhen,_White-breasted Amaurornis phoenicurus Found:
Asia
Image by: 1)
Imran_Shah - Pakistan 2)
Lip Kee - Bali 3)
Bhardwaj
Shanthanu - India
4)
Darren Bellerby - Hong Kong Wetland Park, Hong Kong



Crake,_White-browed Amaurornis cinerea also
Porzana cinerea Found: Australia, Asia
Image by: 1)
JJ Harrison - Thailand 2)
P Henne 3)
Hiyashi_Haka 4)
Brian_McCauley



Genus Aramidopsis - 1 species
Rail,_Snoring Aramidopsis plateni Found: Sulawesi and Buton of Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Adolf_Bernard_Meyer
Genus Atlantisia - 1 species
Rail,_Inaccessible Atlantisia rogersi Found: Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago (far from Africa and South America)
Image by:
1, 2) Brian_Gratwicke

Genus Canirallus - 1 species
Rail,_Gray-throated Canirallus oculeus Found: Africa
Image by:
1)
Totodu74 2)
Cyril_Laffargue

Genus Coturnicops
See also
Coturnicops New World.
Rail,_Swinhoe's Coturnicops exquisitus Found: China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea,
Image by: 1)
John_Gerrard_Keulemans 2)
Gilles_Delforge - China

Genus Crecopsis - 1 species
Crake,_African Crecopsis egregia Found: most of sub-Saharan Africa
Image by: 1)
Mark_Tittley - South Africa 2)
Derek_Keats - Botswana 3)
Nik_Borrow - Uganda


Genus Crex
Crake,_Corn Crex Crex Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Image by:
1)
Dick Daniels - specimen in
Nairobi National Museum, Kenya
2, 3) Dave Curtis - England 4)
Marcel_Holyoak - Jordan



Genus Dryolimnas - 1 species
Rail,_White-throated Dryolimnas cuvieri Found: Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Seychelles
Image by: 1)
David Cook - Madagascar
2) Pat and Keith Taylor 3) Jerry_Oldenettel


Genus Eulabeornis - 1 species
Rail,_Chestnut Eulabeornis castaneoventris Found: Australia, New Guinea
Image by:
1)
Tom Tarrant 2)
Summerdrought

Genus Gallicrex - 1 species
Watercock Gallicrex cinerea Found: Asia including Indonesia, Philippines
Image by: 1)
Vijay_Ismavel 2) Lin_Sun_Fong 3)
Koshy - India 4)
Hiyashi_Haka 5)
LonelyShrimp
1) Juvenile male 2) Female 3 - 5) Male



Genus Gallirallus
Many of these rails that live in the Australasian-Pacific region are flightless. The ones that can fly survive better; not only because of avoiding predators but also because they are not restricted to one location.
Rail,_Barred Gallirallus torquatus Found: Indonesia, Philippines
Image by: 1)
John Tasirin - North Sulawesi, Indonesia 2)
Francesco_Veronesi - Mindanao, Philippines 3)
Ariefrahman


Rail,_Buff-banded Gallirallus philippensis Found: Australasia
Image by:
1, 2)
Dick Daniels -
Miami Zoo
3) Dick - Kuranda Birdworld, Australia 4)
Dick - Kiwi Birdlife Park, New Zealand 5)
Oystercatcher 6)
HeatherW - Victoria




Rail,_Calayan Gallirallus calayanensis Found: Calayan Island in the Philippines
Image by: 1)
James_Eaton
Rail,_Guam Gallirallus owstoni Found: Guam
Image by: 1) Greg Hume - Cincinnati Zoo 2)
Dick Daniels -
National Aviary 3) Sandy Cole -
National Aviary


Rail,_Lord Howe also
Lord Howe Woodhen Gallirallus sylvestris Found: Lord Howe Island off Australia coast
Image by: 1)
Glen Gergus 2)
Toby Hudson 3)
Dracophylla


Rail,_New_Britain also Pink-legged Rail Gallirallus insignis Found: New Britain Island (northeast of Papua New Guinea)
Image by: 1)
Joseph_Smit
Rail,_Okinawa Gallirallus okinawae Found: Okinawa Island in Japan
Image by:
1, 2, 3) Patrick-Randall


Rail,_Roviana Gallirallus rovianae Found: Solomon Islands
Image by: 1)
Salvatore_Chamu
Rail,_Slaty-breasted Gallirallus striatus Found: Indian Subcontinent, southeast Asia
Image by: 1)
Hiyashi_Haka Hume and Marshall 2, 3) Hiyashi Haka - Taiwan 4)
Devon_Pike - Malaysia



Weka also
Woodhen Gallirallus australis Found: New Zealand
Image by: 1)
Arthur Chapman 2)
Hutty McPhoo 3)
Alan Liefting 4)
Glen Fergus 5)
Sid Mosdell
5) Buff Weka (
G. a. hectori)




Genus Gymnocrex
Rail,_Bare-eyed Gymnocrex plumbeiventris Found: New Guinea and nearby islands
Image by: 1)
Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
Hanom_Bashari

Rail,_Blue-faced Gymnocrex rosenbergii Found: Sulawesi of Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Materialscientist 2)
Sam_Woods

Rail,_Talaud Gymnocrex talaudensis Found: Talaud Islands of Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Bram_Demeulemeester
Genus Habroptila - 1 species
Rail,_Invisible Habroptila wallacii Found: Halmahera in North Maluku, Indonesia
Image by:
1)
Shyamal 2)
Paulo_Alves

Genus Himantornis - 1 species
Rail,_Nkulengu Himantornis haematopus Found: Africa
Image by:
1, 2) Nick Borrow - Ghana
1) Juvenile

Genus Lewinia
Found in: Australasia
Rail,_Auckland_Islands Lewinia muelleri Found: Auckland Islands 460 km south of New Zealand
Image by: 1)
Rod_Morris
Rail,_Brown-banded Lewinia mirifica Found: Philippines
Image by: 1)
hbw.com 2)
Desmond_Allen - Luzon
2) Juvenile

Rail,_Lewin's Lewinia pectoralis Found: Australia, New Guinea
Image by: 1)
Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
Wayne_Butterworth


Genus Megacrex - 1 species
Rail,_New_Guinea_Flightless Megacrex inepta Found: New Guinea
Image by:
1, 2) Nik_Borrow

Genus Nesoclopeus - 1 species
Rail,_Woodford's Nesoclopeus woodfordi Found: New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans
Genus Porzana
See also
Porzana New World.
Crake,_Australian also
Australian Spotted Crake Porzana fluminea Found: Australia
Image by: 1)
Oystercatcher 2)
Tony Morris 3)
Frankzed - Victoria, AU 4)
David Jenkins - Victoria



Crake,_Baillon's Porzana pusilla also
Zapornia pusilla Found: Europe, Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australasia
Image by: 1)
Batupa 2)
Frankie Chu 3)
birdsaspoetry - Australia 4)
Peter Jacobs



Crake,_Band-bellied Porzana paykullii also
Zapornia paykullii Found: Asia
Image by: 1)
Sung_Yik-hei 2)
Naturelly - Singapore 3)
Orban.Balazs


Crake,_Black-tailed Porzana bicolor also
Zapornia bicolorFound: Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
Image by: 1)
JJ_Harrison - Thailand 2)
Jason_Thompson - Thailand 3)
Dibyendu_Ash - India 4)
Brendan_Ryan



Crake,_Henderson Porzana atra also
Zapornia atra Found: Henderson Island in the southeast Pacific Ocean.
Image by: 1)
p_khoo 2) Orban_Balazs

Crake,_Little Porzana parva also
Zapornia parva Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Image by: 1)
Martien Brand 2) Francesco_Veronesi.
3, 4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan



Crake,_Ruddy-breasted Porzana fusca also
Zapornia fusca Found:
Asia
Image by:
1, 2) Hiyashi Halso 3)
lonelyshrimp - Thailand


Crake,_Spotless Porzana tabuensis also
Zapornia tabuensis Found: Australasia
Image by: 1)
Oystercatcher 2)
Aviceda 3)
Frankzed


Crake,_Spotted Porzana porzana Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Image by: 1)
Marek Szczepanek 2)
Mick Sway 3)
Marek_Szczepanek


Genus Rallina
Found: Asia, Australasia
Crake,_Andaman Rallina canningi Found: India
Image by:
1, 2) TR_Shankar_Raman

Crake,_Red-legged Rallina fasciata Found: India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malyasio, Thailand
Image by: 1)
Johnny_Wee 2)
Darren_Bellerby - Singapore 3)
David_Cook


Crake,_Red-necked Rallina tricolor Found: northeast Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands
Image by: 1)
Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
Tom_Tarrant - north Queensland 3)
Francesco_Veronesi 4)
Brian_McCauley
1) Incomplete range



Crake,_Slaty-legged Rallina eurizonoides Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Philippines
Image by: 1)
Richard2formosa 2)
TJ_Parpan 3)
Jason_Thompson - Thailand 4)
THE PHOTOMATION
1) Adult and chick



Rail,_Chestnut_Forest Rallina rubra Found: New Guinea
Image by: 1)
Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
Joseph_Smit 3)
Jerry_Oldenettel


Rail,_Forbe's Rallina forbesi Found: New Guinea
Image by:
1, 3) Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
John Gould
2) Male on left; female on right 3) female


Rail,_Mayr's Rallina mayri Found: New Guinea
Image by: 1)
Katerina_Tvardikova 2)
Salvatore_Chamu
2) Female - upper; male - lower

Rail,_White-striped_Forest Rallina leucospila Found: northwest Papua New Guinea
Image by: 1)
hbw.com
Genus Rallus
These are slim, long-billed rails with slender legs. Their laterally flattened bodies are an adaptation to life in wet reedbeds and marshes, enabling them to slip easily through the dense semi-aquatic vegetation. Typically these birds have streaked brown upperparts, blue-grey on the face or breast, and barred flanks.
See also
Rallus New World.
Rail,_African Rallus caerulescens Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Alan Manson - South Africa
2, 3) Derek_Keats


Rail,_Brown-cheeked also
Eastern Water Rail Rallus indicus Found: Asia
Image by: 1)
characters 2)
Hank

Rail,_Madagascar Rallus madagascariensis Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1)
Marc des Murs 2)
David Cook

Rail,_Water Rallus aquaticus Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Image by: 1)
Jan Svetlík 2)
Pierre Dalous 3)
Rudo Jurecek 4)
Cristiano Crolle - Racconigi, Italy



Genus Rougetius - 1 species
Rail,_Rouget's Rougetius rougetii Found: Eritrea, Ethiopia
Image by: 1)
Kris_Maes 2)
Rafael_Medina - Ethiopia 3)
Carsten_ten_Brink - Ethopia 4)
Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


