Macquarie rail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Macquarie rail |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Hypotaenidia |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
H. p. macquariensis
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| Trinomial name | |
| Hypotaenidia philippensis macquariensis (Hutton, 1879)
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The Macquarie rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis macquariensis) was a special kind of bird that used to live only on Macquarie Island. This island is a small, chilly place far south of Australia, part of Tasmania. Sadly, this bird is now extinct, meaning there are no more Macquarie rails left anywhere in the world. It was a subspecies of the buff-banded rail, which is a bird found in other parts of the world. The very first Macquarie rail specimen ever collected, called the holotype, is kept safe at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Where the Macquarie Rail Lived
The Macquarie rail was found only on Macquarie Island. This island is known as a subantarctic island, meaning it's located in the cold southern oceans. The rail loved to live in areas covered with tussock grassland. Tussock grassland is a type of habitat where grasses grow in thick, clumpy bunches. These clumps provided good cover and places for the rails to find food.
Why the Macquarie Rail Disappeared
The Macquarie rail became extinct because of several problems, mainly introduced animals. The biggest threats were feral cats and wekas. Feral cats are domestic cats that have gone wild, and wekas are a type of bird from New Zealand that were brought to the island. These animals hunted the rails.
Another big problem was rabbits. Rabbits were also brought to Macquarie Island. They ate a lot of the plants, especially the tussock grass that the rails depended on for shelter and food. Even though the rails had lived alongside cats for over 70 years, the rabbits caused the cat population to grow much larger. More rabbits meant more food for the cats. But when winter came, and there were fewer rabbits, the hungry cats started hunting the rails much more often. This combination of new predators and habitat destruction led to the sad disappearance of the Macquarie rail.
