Bare-faced Rail
Gymnocrex rosenbergii
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderGruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)
- FamilyRallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)
- GenusGymnocrex (Bare-faced Rails)
- SpeciesGymnocrex rosenbergii (Bare-faced Rail)
About the Bare-faced Rail
The blue-faced rail (Gymnocrex rosenbergii), also bald-faced rail or Schlegel's rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and rivers.
As of 2025, the species population size is unknown, but believed to be decreasing due to loss of its forest habitat. Previously, population has been estimated as 3,500-15,000 individuals, but this is a likely underestimate due to difficulties surveying cryptic species.
The blue-faced rail is a 30 cm, medium-sized, secretive, forest rail. It has a conspicuous patch of bare cobalt-blue skin around the eye that gives the bird its distinctive name. The blue-faced rail makes a snoring sound apparently similar to that of the snoring rail, and it also gives off a quiet clucking sound in alarm.
The blue-faced rail feeds on insects and snails. Blue-faced Rail on the BirdLife Species Factsheet. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Tangkoko Nature Reserve
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 |
More parks will be added in future updates.