Buff-banded Rail

Buff-banded Rail (Image ID 49348)
Photographed byMichael Hamel-Green on Tue 7th Dec, 2021 and uploaded on Thu 9th Dec, 2021 .
Resolution1396x1800
Viewed320
ID49348
CommentOn this particular morning mist and light rain were moving in from the Bay as I arrived at Western Treatment Plant, Werribee. It had a desolate kind of beauty. Distant trees were etched against the grey mist. The You Yangs to the north were nowhere to be seen. Few birds were to be seen. Just the tireless Whiskered Terns, black-capped slivers of white, dancing and hovering over the waters of Lake Borrie. After a birdless visit to the Little River Bird Hide, where the tide was up and mudflats not yet reopened for shorebirds, I continued along the coastal track next to the lake. Not too far along, what should suddenly appear out of the grasses next to the track was a beautiful bird I had never seen before. I stopped the car a fair distance away but no sooner did I get out than it disappeared back into the grasses, nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, there was a high Melbourne Water metal box nearby with a view to where the bird disappeared, so I hid behind it in the hope that the bird would reappear. And right on cue, it did reappear, still very cautious but lingering long enough for several photos. As I discovered later, poring over my bird guides, it was none other than a Buff-banded Rail, somewhat shy creatures disinclined to stray far from their grassy habitats, a very sensible approach considering the raptors patrolling the lake for prey and no doubt partial to a plump rail or crake. A first sighting of a bird you have never seen before is always a special joy, and so it was for me. In fact, the only other crake/rail family species I have seen are Spotted Crakes, also here at Werribee. And it is not only the pleasure of sighting a bird for the first time but also the pleasure of learning something about it, for instance, that it is also called a “Painted Rail”, which seems very fitting for its startling plumage. “Elegant” is how Pizzey and Knight describe a Buff-band Rail. Elegant indeed with its ruby eyes, red beak, barred breast, ginger front, chestnut nape, and sequinned jacket. Buff-bands, it seems, have managed to find their way across most of the countries of the Southwest Pacific and Philippines, which is somewhat of a puzzle considering they are largely land-based birds, disinclined to fly. As for their conservation status, Buff-banded Rails are not on the rails as yet. They are listed as “secure” all around Australia. But perhaps not for long. The Buff-banded Rail is definitely endangered in the Australian-administered Cocos Islands; and in Queensland, conservation specialist Roger Jaensch notes that “Due to loss of wetlands, changes to habitat structure and predation by cats – but also ignorance of their existence – crakes and rails have declined in range and abundance” (https://www.lfwseq.org.au/invisible-valuable-secretive-rails-waterways/). Jaensch calls for specific ways of improving waterways to maintain rail and crake populations, including the need for low cover native or weedy cover. I confess I was amongst those “ignorant of the existence” of Buff-banded Rails. Now I have sighted one for the first time, I am a Rail convert, and will never complain again about weedy stretches along our waterways (as, for example, featured in my photo).
EquipmentNikon Z7ii, Nikon 500mm PF f5.6
ISO 1250
1/320th f9
LocationWerribee Treatment Plant, Werribee, Victoria
Keywordsadult
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