Buff-banded Rail
Gallirallus philippensis
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderGruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)
- FamilyRallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)
- GenusGallirallus (Australo-Pacific Rails)
- SpeciesGallirallus philippensis (Buff-banded Rail)
About the Buff-banded Rail
The buff-banded rail (Gallirallus philippensis) is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-west Pacific region, including the Philippines (where it is known as tikling), New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand (where it is known as the banded rail, or moho-pererū in Māori), and numerous smaller islands, covering a range of latitudes from the tropics to the subantarctic. The species was formerly placed in the genus Hypotaenidia.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson described and illustrated the buff-banded rail in his multi-volume Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in the Philippines. He used the French name Le rasle rayé des Philippines and the Latin name Rallus Philippensis Striatus. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Raja Ampat
Barred Rail
Gallirallus torquatus
Slaty-legged Crake
Rallina eurizonoides
Red-necked Crake
Rallina tricolor
White-browed Crake
Porzana cinerea
South-west Pacific Swamphen
Porphyrio melanotus
White-breasted Waterhen
Amaurornis phoenicurus
Dusky Moorhen
Gallinula tenebrosa
Bare-eyed Rail
Gymnocrex plumbeiventris
Baillon's Crake
Porzana pusilla
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 6 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 18 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 19 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 20 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 21 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 22 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Buff-banded Rail in Raja Ampat?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Buff-banded Rail sighting in Raja Ampat, based on 66 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Buff-banded Rail in Raja Ampat?
November has the highest sighting rate for Buff-banded Rail in Raja Ampat in our monthly data.