New Flightless Bird Species Discovered in Philippines

CAMBRIDGE, UK, August 17, 2004 (ENS) - In May, Carmela Española was walking in the forest on a remote island in the northern Philippines when she saw a small group of unfamiliar dark brown birds with distinctive orange-red bills and legs in underbrush near a stream. Then she saw two more of the birds cross the trail and begin turning over dried leaves with their bills. Her notes, photographs, and recordings of their loud, rasping calls showed that the species was new to science.

A biologist, Española was part of a team of Filipino and British wildlife researchers surveying the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians of the Babuyan Islands. She discovered the bird in lowland forest on the island of Calayan, and so the team named the new species the Calayan rail.

It belongs to the family Rallidae, which includes rails, gullinules and coots, many of which are migratory birds, but the Calayan rail is flightless, or nearly so. Its scientific name is Gallirallus calayanensis.

The bird is new to science, but it is well known to the local people, who call it by the name "piding."

The Calayan rail (Photo © Des Allen courtesy BirdLife International)

The sightings were made in forest with coralline limestone outcrops, caves and small streams. The team took photographs and video footage of the birds in the wild, and of one young female in the hand, together with detailed measurements.

The birds were seen in undergrowth or out on open trails, sometimes alone, sometimes in family groups, but they were not seen to fly.

The species has lived undiscovered on Calayan for at least a century. Calayan was last visited by ornithologists 100 years ago, in 1903-04.

The Calayan rail is a relative of the internationally familiar moorhen, its bright red beak and legs contrasting with its dark plumage.

The new species of rail may be classified as vulnerable under the IUCN-World Conservation Union Red List criteria for species of conservation concern.

Although they are not thought to be under immediate threat, the development of roads on the island may lead to new settlements, resulting in loss of habitat. Construction has already started on one road around the edge of Calayan island and another linking that road to the center of the island.

Roads bring the introduction of predators such as cats and rats, the research team says. Such alien predators have been implicated in the majority of flightless rail extinctions.

Eighteen of the 20 living species of flightless rails are considered threatened, and the majority of rail species that have become extinct since 1600 were also flightless.

“I felt sure the Babuyan Islands would hold some interesting discoveries, but I didn’t expect to find a totally new species,” said Genevieve Broad, the co-leader of the expedition. “I’m thrilled for the team. I hope this will bring the recognition these islands deserve as an important site of biological diversity.”

Josh Cole of the Rufford Small Grant committee, who provided funding for the expedition, said, “We are delighted that our involvement in funding conservation work on the island has helped in such a significant scientific discovery.”

The rail lives in the dense undergrowth of Calayan island forests. (Photo © Carmela Española courtesy BirdLife)

Nigel Collar of BirdLife International said, “The discovery of the Calayan rail is a wonderful demonstration that the world has much to reveal to us yet. However, these newly discovered species are nearly always at risk from human influence, because most are on islands or mountains, where their ranges are naturally quite small."

"The Calayan rail is another species that we have discovered just in time, another case for long-term care by human society," said Collar. "I warmly congratulate the team on their extraordinary and beautiful find.”

The Babuyan Islands Expedition team was on Calayan as part of a 10 week survey of the terrestrial fauna in the islands of Camiguin, Babuyan Claro, Calayan and Dalupiri. Their goal was to compile inventories of the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians present, identify threats to the wildlife and environment and identify habitats for priority conservation.

Now the team plans to undertake further research to determine the conservation habitat requirements, distribution and population numbers of the rail, while working closely with local communities to minimize threats and encourage long term initiatives to protect the birds' forest habitat.

Published today, a description of the new species and its discovery can be found in the scientific journal "Forktail," Volume 20 (2004): pages 1-7. A copy of the paper is available from Richard Thomas, richard.thomas@birdlife.org. "Forktail" is published by the Oriental Bird Club, www.orientalbirdclub.org