The Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi, is an endangered subspecies of the Buff-banded Rail endemic to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian Offshore Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean. The local Cocos Malay name of the bird is Ayam Hutan ("Chicken of the Forest").
This bird is now effectively limited to the 1.2 km² North Keeling Island. It is still occasionally reported from the 26 islands comprising the So...
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The Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi, is an endangered subspecies of the Buff-banded Rail endemic to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian Offshore Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean. The local Cocos Malay name of the bird is Ayam Hutan ("Chicken of the Forest").
This bird is now effectively limited to the 1.2 km² North Keeling Island. It is still occasionally reported from the 26 islands comprising the Southern Atoll of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where it was once common, but recent surveys have failed to find it. It is apparently extinct throughout the Southern Atoll apart from occasional visits by birds dispersing from North Keeling, which are unable to establish viable populations.
On North Keeling the Rails occupy all the limited ground habitats on the island, including the shore of the lagoon and the understorey vegetation of Pisonia forest and Coconut palms. Population size is estimated as 850-1000 birds, with a population density of 7...
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