Critically Endangered
Zapata Rail
Cyanolimnas cerverai
Its short wings render it almost flightless.
Appearance
The upperparts are olive-brown and the forehead, head sides, and underparts are slate-grey, with some white barring on the lower belly. The flanks are grey-brown and the undertail is white. The iris, legs, and feet are red, and the bill is yellow with a red base.
Its short wings render it almost flightless.
This is a medium-sized, dark rail, approximately 29 cm (11.4 in) long.
Range and habitat
This rail is a Cuban endemic restricted to the northern part of the 4500 km2 (1740 mi2) Zapata Swamp, that is also the only location for the Zapata wren and the nominate subspecies of the Zapata sparrow. The favoured the Zapata rail usually lives in flooded vegetation, 1.5–2.0 m (60–80 in) tall, consisting of tangled, bush-covered swamp and low trees, and preferably near higher ground. The species was once more widespread, with fossil bones found at Havana, Pinar del Río, and the Isla de la Juventud.
Island species of rails are particularly vulnerable to population loss since they frequently and rapidly evolve to become flightless or very weak fliers, and are very susceptible to introduced predators.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The Zapata rail usually breeds in Cladium jamaicensis sawgrass, building the nest above water-level on a raised tussock. Breeding occurs around September, and possibly also in December and January.
American ornithologist James Bond found a nest containing three white eggs 60 cm (2 ft) above water level in sawgrass, but little else is known of the breeding biology. The bird prefers to feed in sawgrass.
In crisis
Due to ongoing habitat loss in its limited range, its small population size, and predation by introduced mammals and catfish, the Zapata rail is evaluated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Tourism and climate change may pose threats in the future. Fifteen species have become extinct since 1600, and more than 30 are endangered.
The few records in subsequent years suggest that numbers remain low, although after no official sightings for two decades, a 1998 survey found the birds at two new locations in the Zapata Swamp. The Zapata rail is restricted to a single area, with an extent of about 1,000 km2 (400 mi2), and its small population, estimated on the basis of recent surveys and local assessments of population densities at 250–1,000 individuals, is assessed as decreasing.
Zapata Rail is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Zapata Rail, Wikidata item Q1263186. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
