Swinhoe's rail

Swinhoe's rail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Coturnicops
Species:
C. exquisitus
Binomial name
Coturnicops exquisitus
(R. Swinhoe, 1873)

Swinhoe's rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) is a species of bird in the family Rallidae occurring in northeastern Asia. It was known only in two locations in Manchuria and southeastern Siberia, separated by more than 1000 km; however, in 2018, a new breeding population was found in the Amur region, situated between the two. Its natural habitats are swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and arable land. It is the world's smallest rail at 13 cm (5.2 in) and 24.5 grams. It is threatened by habitat loss, and considered a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List.[1]

The common name commemorates the British naturalist Robert Swinhoe who first described the species in 1873.[2]

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "Coturnicops exquisitus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692270A93345348. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692270A93345348.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 331–332.