Austral Rail

About the Austral Rail

The austral rail (Rallus antarcticus) is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Some authors have considered the austral rail as conspecific with the Virginia rail (R. limicola) but their treatment has not been widely accepted. The species is monotypic.

The austral rail is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long. Adults have dull brown upperparts with buff-edged black centers to the back feathers. Their face and throat are gray, their breast olive brown, and their flanks barred with black and white. Juveniles are similar with the addition of sooty tips on the breast feathers and a white throat.

The austral rail is patchily distributed in southern Chile's Magallanes Region and in southern Argentina between the departments of Río Negro and Santa Cruz. It formerly occurred as far north as Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has also been recorded as a vagrant on the Falkland Islands. It is found mostly near the coast where it inhabits wet fields and meadows, rushy lake shores, and reedbeds. Wikipedia →