Zapata Rail Mustelirallus cerverai Scientific name definitions

Confined to the swamp of the same name in southwest Cuba, the Zapata Rail is one of the most poorly known birds of the West Indian region, if not the entire Neotropics. It is a mid-sized, moderately long-billed rail with brown upperparts, bluish-gray underparts, red eyes, a yellow bill with a red base, and orange legs. The Zapata Rail appears to be virtually flightless. Given that it is an inhabitant of dense sawgrass marshes, and its voice is not definitely known, it is perhaps unsurprising that there have been very few definitive records of the species within the last decade. However, all available evidence suggests a decline in this species’ population over the past decades, and as a result it was recently listed as Critically Endangered (the highest threat category) by BirdLife International.

29 cm. Apparently almost flightless; wings very short; tail short and decomposed. Dark rail without streaks or spots, faintly barred on lower belly and thighs and has white undertail-coverts. Sexes alike. Easily separable by plumage from sympatric rallids, but resembles smaller Neocrex colombiana and N. erythrops; former differs in unbarred cinnamon-buff flanks and undertail coverts; latter has much heavier barring from flanks to undertail coverts. Considered intermediate in plumage characters between N. colombiana and larger Pardirallus sanguinolentus, which has unbarred dusky brown to blackish rear flanks and undertail coverts, and a much longer, slightly decurved, greenish-yellow bill with blue and red at base. Immature undescribed. Juvenile reported to be duller, without any red on bill and olivaceous legs (1 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2010). Aves de Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ).

Zapata Swamp, in west-central Cuba.

Dense bush-covered swamp with low trees, where Myrica cerifera, Salix longipes, sawgrass (Cladium jamaicensis) and cattails (Typha angustifolia) are common, but with C. jamaicensis dominant (2 Kirkconnell, A., González, O., Alfaro, E. and Cotayo, L. (1999). Nuevas localidades para la Gallinuela de Santo Tomás Cyanolimnus cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai, en la Ciénaga de Zapata. Cotinga. 12: 57–60. (In Spanish with English summary.). Close ), often near higher ground.

No information available, but speculated to include tadpoles and aquatic invertebrates (1 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2010). Aves de Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ).

Alarm call a loud kwowk, much like that of Limpkin (Aramus guarauna). Subsequent vocal descriptions, including reported song, and the only known sound recording attributed to this species (3 Garrido, O. H. (1985). Cuban endangered birds. In Neotropical Ornithology (P. A. Buckley, M. S. Foster, E. S. Morton, R. S. Ridgely, and F. G. Buckley, Editors), Ornithological Monographs No. 36, American Ornithologists Union, Washington, D.C., USA. pp. 992–999. Close , 2 Kirkconnell, A., González, O., Alfaro, E. and Cotayo, L. (1999). Nuevas localidades para la Gallinuela de Santo Tomás Cyanolimnus cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai, en la Ciénaga de Zapata. Cotinga. 12: 57–60. (In Spanish with English summary.). Close , 4 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2000). Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ), are now known not to relate to Zapata Rail; most, if not all, in fact pertain to Spotted Rail (Pardirallus maculatus) (5 Kirkconnell Páez, A., Stotz, D.F. and Shopland, J.M., eds. (2005). Cuba: Península de Zapata. Rapid Biological Inventories No. 7. The Field Museum, Chicago. Close , 1 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2010). Aves de Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ), which is a common inhabitant of the same sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) swamps.

Males in breeding condition in January, and season speculated to be November–January (1 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2010). Aves de Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). Juveniles observed November and January (6 Kirkconnell, A., G. M. Kirwan, O. H. Garrido, A. D. Mitchell, and J. W. Wiley (2020). The birds of Cuba: An Annotated Checklist. British Ornithologists’ Club Checklist No. 26. British Ornithologists’ Club, Tring, United Kingdom. Close ). One nest thought to be of this species, found in early September of 1982, was sited ca. 60 cm above water level in a hummock of sawgrass, and contained three uniform white eggs, but considerable doubt should be attached to this record (6 Kirkconnell, A., G. M. Kirwan, O. H. Garrido, A. D. Mitchell, and J. W. Wiley (2020). The birds of Cuba: An Annotated Checklist. British Ornithologists’ Club Checklist No. 26. British Ornithologists’ Club, Tring, United Kingdom. Close ).

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. Known from only four sites in Zapata Swamp, Matanzas, west-central Cuba. Four were collected near Santo Tomás from March to June, 1927, and species was easily found in January 1931, with additional specimens being collected until 1934 (6 Kirkconnell, A., G. M. Kirwan, O. H. Garrido, A. D. Mitchell, and J. W. Wiley (2020). The birds of Cuba: An Annotated Checklist. British Ornithologists’ Club Checklist No. 26. British Ornithologists’ Club, Tring, United Kingdom. Close ); subsequently no records, despite occasional searches, until 1970s, when birds observed and photographed at a second locality, Laguna del Tesoro, ca. 65 km from the first. Found at two further sites, Peralta and Hato de Jicarita, in 1998 (4 Garrido, O. H., and A. Kirkconnell (2000). Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). Vocalizations previously attributed to this species, and the source of some 1970s records from Laguna del Tesoro, are now known to be those of Spotted Rail (Pardirallus maculatus)Spotted Rail. Although Zapata Swamp covers 4500 km², the herbaceous swampy habitat favored by the rail has a total extent of 1820 km² (2 Kirkconnell, A., González, O., Alfaro, E. and Cotayo, L. (1999). Nuevas localidades para la Gallinuela de Santo Tomás Cyanolimnus cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai, en la Ciénaga de Zapata. Cotinga. 12: 57–60. (In Spanish with English summary.). Close ). Despite likely occurrence in other areas of the swamp, the very small number of records (the most recent in November 2014) (7 Kirwan, G.M., Brinkhuizen, D., Calderón, D., Davis, B. and Minns, J. (2015). Neotropical notebook. Neotropical Birding. 16: 43–62. Close ) in recent decades suggests that population is very small, almost certainly fewer than 250 mature individuals. Serious threats include dry-season burning of habitat, which still lack comprehensive survey, potentially devastating for the species, as well as introduced predators, namely mongoose (Herpestes) and rats (Rattus). Exotic African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) introduced in 2000 may also predate juveniles; indeed, there is anecdotal evidence of a dramatic decline in the population of all species of rail in Zapata Swamp since the arrival of the catfish. The swamp has to date escaped serious drainage. Zapata Rail has been afforded protection with an area of 10,000 ha in the Corral de Santo Tomás Faunal Refuge, though the benefits of this protection are unknown. Another site of Zapata Rail observation, Laguna del Tesoro, lies within a National Park, which is also protected. Former distribution was wider, and fossil bones attributed to this species have been found in cave deposits in Pinar del Río, La Habana and Sancti Spíritus provinces, and on Isle of Pines.