Hawaiian gallinule

Hawaiian gallinule

Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Gallinula
Species:
G. galeata
Subspecies:
G. g. sandvicensis
Trinomial name
Gallinula galeata sandvicensis
Streets, 1877
Synonyms
  • Gallinula sandvicensis Streets, 1877
  • Gallinula galeata sandwichensis Stejneger,1882
  • Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis Mathews, 1927
Showing plumage details
Gallinula crowns and bills showing larger frontal shield on the Hawaiian gallinule (centre) compared with the nominate G. g. galeata (left) and a Common Moorhen from Guam (right)
Chicks on the leaf of a giant water lily
View of the Hanalei Valley in Kaua’i, a stronghold of the Hawaiian gallinule; Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge in the background, taro fields in the foreground

The Hawaiian gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis) is an endangered chicken-sized water bird in the rail family. It is also variously known as the Hawaiian common gallinule, Hawaiian moorhen, Hawaiian common moorhen, mudhen, or ‘alae ‘ula (“burnt forehead” - for its prominent red frontal shield) in Hawaiian,[2] and sometimes misleadingly as the Hawaiian red coot. It is a subspecies of the common gallinule that is endemic to the tropical Hawaiian Islands of the north-central Pacific Ocean.

It is dependent on freshwater wetland habitats with dense emergent vegetation for nesting. Once found on most of the main islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, it has undergone a major population and range decline and is now a resident breeder only on Kaua'i and O'ahu. Causes of the decline were mainly loss of habitat, hunting and predation by introduced animals, with numbers subsequently stabilised at a low level through legal protection and conservation management. Despite being hunted for food, it was mythologised as the keeper of fire in Hawaiian religion.[2]

  1. ^ "Gallinula galeata sandvicensis". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe Inc. 1996. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  2. ^ a b Pyle RL, Pyle P (2009). "Common Moorhen" (PDF). In: The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Bishop Museum: Honolulu. Retrieved 2014-01-13.