Buff-banded rail is a species that shows a marked case of a phenomenon
sometimes termed "ecological release". This is a condition hypothesised to
involve a widening of niche and behaviour when a species is removed from
competition and/or predation and/or occurs in a more simple ecosystem than
usual. Hence, it is mostly seen on islands, but also on mountain tops. BBR is
very common and bold on many islands of the GBR and Coral Sea. Many island
birds show ecological release, such as island white-eyes. Another great example
is Swamp Harrier in NZ and certain S Pacific islands.
Tony, subspecies "tounerlieri" of Buff-Banded Rail (The Great Barrier Reef
form) is not a good subspecies at all. It was sorted out in HANZAB 2 (1993).
The type series was mostly juveniles and the characters given to distinguish it
were mostly juvenile characters and behaviour. That lots of juveniles occur in
a sample of a population that is super abundant (like BBR on small islands) is
hardly surprising. It is an example of why taxonomists should age birds
carefully and consider a bit of ecology.
David James,
Sydney
==============================
From: Tony Russel <>
To: 'Tom and Mandy Wilson' <>; 'Sonja Ross'
<>; 'birding aus' <>;
Sent: Wednesday, 27 July 2011 10:44 AM
Subject: Resident Rail?
Lady Elliott Island also has them running around in the dining areas. Race
tounelieri.
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Tom and Mandy
Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, 26 July 2011 8:46 PM
To: Sonja Ross; birding aus;
Subject: Resident Rail?
David Clark wrote: "... Lord Howe Island is definitely the place to see
Buff-banded Rails!
I think that the Lord Howe Rails have been able to exploit an environmental
niche and their range and behaviour is quite different to mainland birds."
I think David's comment probably applies to rails widening their niches in
many island habitats - I recall the Buff Banded Rails on Heron Island in
1993 practically being residents of the resort dining room and the waiters
telling us that they had to shoo them off the butter. We had one in our
cabin...which was a bit of a surprise when I came out of the bathroom.
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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