Zapata rail

The Zapata rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai) is a mediumsized, dark-coloured rail, the only member of the
monotypic genus Cyanolimnas. It has brown upperparts,
greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill, white
undertail coverts, and red eyes and legs. Its short wings
render it almost ightless. It is endemic to the wetlands
of the Zapata Peninsula in southern Cuba, where its only
known nest was found in sawgrass tussocks. Little is
known of its diet or reproductive behaviour, and its described calls may belong to a dierent species.

genus Cyanolimnas, and is considered to be intermediate between two other New World genera, Neocrex and
Pardirallus. All six species in the three genera are longbilled, ve have drab plumage, and all but one have a red
spot at the bill base. They are believed to be descended
from Amaurornis-like ancestral stock.[8]

The species was discovered by Spanish zoologist Fermn

Zann Cervera in March 1927 in the Zapata Swamp
near Santo Toms, in the southern Matanzas Province of
Cuba. The swamp holds one other bird found nowhere
else, the Zapata wren, and also gives its name to the
Zapata sparrow. Due to ongoing habitat loss in its limited range, its small population size, and predation by
introduced mammals and catsh, the Zapata rail is evaluated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of
threatened species. Tourism and climate change may
pose threats in the future.

This is a medium-sized, dark rail, approximately 29 cm

(11.4 in) long. The upperparts are olive-brown and the
forehead, head sides and underparts are slate-grey, with
some white barring on the lower belly. The anks are
grey-brown and the undertail is white. The iris, legs and
feet are red, and the bill is yellow with a red base. The
tail feathers are only sparsely barbed, and the wings are
very short and rounded. The sexes are similar in appearance, but immature birds are duller and have olive feet
and bill; the chicks, as with all rails, are covered with
blackish down.[6][9][10] The Zapata rails call is described
as a bouncing cutucutu-cutucutu-cutucutu similar to that
of the bare-legged owl,[11] and a loud limpkin-like kuvk
kuck.[12] However, these calls may actually be those of
the spotted rail.[13]

2 Description

Discovery and taxonomy

There are no similar species in Cuba; the sympatric

spotted rail is much the same size, but is heavily spotted and barred with white.[11] The Zapata rails plumage
is intermediate between those of Colombian crake and
plumbeous rail, but these are mainland birds of Central
and South America.[9]

The Zapata rail was formally described by American

herpetologist Thomas Barbour and his compatriot, ornithologist James Lee Peters, in 1927. They considered it distinctive enough to merit its own genus, Cyanolimnas.[2] The genus name derives from Ancient Greek
kuanos dark blue and Modern Latin limnas rail or
crake";[3] the specic name cerverai honours the rails discoverer, Fermn Zann Cervera, a Spanish soldier who
had stayed on after the SpanishAmerican War and became a professional naturalist.[4]

3 Distribution and habitat

Barbour had been accompanied by the Spaniard on his

previous visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange
birds to be found in the Zapata area, he sent Cervera on
a series of trips into the region. Cervera eventually found
the rail near the very small settlement which is commemorated in the Spanish name for the rail, Gallinuela de
Santo Toms.[5][6] Cervera also discovered the Zapata
wren and the Zapata sparrow,[4] and his name is commemorated by the new ecological centre in the Cinaga
de Zapata National Park.[7]
The rail family contains more than 150 species divided
into at least 50 genera, the exact number depending on
the authority. The Zapata rail is the only member of the Aerial view of the Zapata Swamp
1

This rail is a Cuban endemic restricted to the northern

part of the 4500 km2 (1740 mi2 ) Zapata Swamp, which
is also the only location for the Zapata wren,[14] and
the nominate subspecies of the Zapata sparrow.[15] The
favoured habitat of the Zapata rail is ooded vegetation,
1.52.0 m (6080 in) tall, consisting of tangled, bushcovered swamp and low trees, and preferably near higher
ground. Typical plants of the swamp are wax myrtle, the
willow Salix longipes, the sawgrass Cladium jamaicensis,
and the narrow leaf cattail.[12]
The species was once more widespread, with fossil bones
found at Havana,[12] Pinar del Ro and the Isla de la Juventud.[9] Barbour did not believe that the rail, Zapata
sparrow and Zapata wren were relics in the sense that they
once ranged widely over Cuba (as did, for example, the
dwarf hutia and the Cuban crocodile), since the birds are
so highly modied for swamp conditions. He considered
that conditions similar to those found today may once
have extended over the large submerged area now represented by the shallow banks, with scattered mangrove
keys, which stretch towards the Isla de la Juventud and
perhaps eastward along the southern Cuban coast.[4] The
birds fossilized at Isla de la Juventud are smaller than the
single extant specimen, but the paucity of available material makes it impossible to establish whether the populations were genuinely dierent.[16]

CONSERVATION STATUS

are fed and guarded by the adults.[18]

The bird prefers to feed in sawgrass. The diet is not
recorded, but most marsh rails are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates and plant material. The rails may
disperse in the rainy season, returning to permanently
ooded areas in the dry months.[12][19]
Like other rails, this species is dicult to observe as it
moves through the sawgrass, and may crouch to avoid
detection, but is not usually particularly wary. When disturbed, it may run a short distance and then stop with its
tail raised and the conspicuous white undertail showing.[9]
Despite its short wings, the Zapata rail may not be completely ightless.[20] On morphological grounds it would
be classed as a ightless species, since the pectoral girdle
and wing are as reduced as in other species of rails that
are considered to be ightless, but Bond reported that he
saw one utter about ten feet across a canal.[16]

5 Conservation status

Behaviour

The African sharptooth catsh is a major predator of rail chicks.

Island species of rails are particularly vulnerable to population loss since they frequently and rapidly evolve to become ightless or very weak iers,[21] and are very susceptible to introduced predators. Fifteen species have
become extinct since 1600,[22] and more than 30 are
endangered.[23]

James Bond found the only known nest and eggs.

The species appears to have been easily found in the Santo

Toms area until 1931, but there were no further records
until the 1970s when birds were found 65 km (40 mi)
away at Laguna del Tesoro. The few records in subsequent years suggest that numbers remain low,[9] although
after no ocial sightings for two decades, a 1998 survey
found the birds at two new locations in the Zapata Swamp.
Ten rails were detected at Peralta, and seven at Hato de
Jicarita. On the basis of this sample it was estimated that
7090 rails were present in the 230 hectares (570 acres)
between the two sites.[6] As of 2016, the only sighting for
several years was in November 2014.[24]

The Zapata rail usually breeds in Cladium jamaicensis sawgrass, building the nest above water-level on a
raised tussock. Breeding occurs around September, and
possibly also in December and January.[12] American
ornithologist James Bond found a nest containing three
white eggs 60 cm (2 ft) above water level in sawgrass, but
little else is known of the breeding biology.[9][17] Rails are The Zapata rail is restricted to a single area, with an exusually monogamous, and all have precocial chicks which tent of about 1,000 km2 (400 mi2 ), and its small popu-

3
lation, estimated on the basis of recent surveys and local
assessments of population densities at 2501,000 individuals, is assessed as decreasing. In the past, grass-cutting
for roof thatch was a cause of extensive loss of breeding habitat, and habitat loss through dry-season burning of the vegetation continues. Predation by introduced
small Asian mongooses and rats is a problem and, more
recently, introduced African sharptooth catsh (Clarias
gariepinus) have been identied as major predators of rail
chicks.[12][25][26]
C. cerverai was classied as endangered on the IUCN Red
List until 2011, when its status was uplisted to critically
endangered.[1] This had already been suggested since,
given the lack of knowledge about its calls, the rails population may be lower than currently estimated.[13]

doi:10.2307/4075353.
[5] Peters, James l (July 1948).
18841946 (PDF). The Auk.
doi:10.2307/4080492.

Thomas Barbour,
65 (3): 432438.

[6] Kirkconnell, Arturo; Gonzlez, Osmany; Alfaro, Emilio;

Cotayo, Lzaro (1999). Nuevas localidades para la
Gallinuela de Santo Toms Cyanolimnas cerverai y la Ferminia Ferminia cerverai en la Cinaga de Zapata, Cuba
[New locations of the Zapata Rail Cyanolimnas cerverai
and the Zapata Wren Ferminia cerverai in the Zapata
Swamp, Cuba] (PDF). Cotinga (in Spanish). 12: 5760.
[7] Recovery of the Ecological Station Fermin Cervera"".
Whats New. Cinaga de Zapata National Park. Retrieved
8 March 2010.

Two remaining sites are in protected areas: the Cor[8] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 31.
ral de Santo Toms Faunal Refuge, and the Laguna del
Tesoro nature tourism area. Surveys have recently been [9] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 435436.
conducted throughout the species range and proposed
conservation measures include the control of dry season [10] Ridgway, Robert; Friedmann, Herbert (1941). The
birds of North and Middle America. Part IX. Famburning.[12]

5.1

ily GruidaeThe Cranes, Family RallidaeThe Rails,

Coots, and Gallinules Family HeliornithidaeThe Sungrebes, Family EurypygidaeThe Sun-bitterns. Bulletin
of the United States National Museum. 50 (9): 1254.

Future threats

Cuba has plans to encourage more tourists, including to

[11] Raelle et al. (2003) 58.
the Zapata area, and changes to United States policy mean
that its citizens are allowed to visit Cuba. In the future, [12] Zapata Rail BirdLife Species Factsheet. BirdLife Inthis could further increase the eects of ecotourism; this
ternational. Retrieved 16 April 2011
might have a dangerous impact on the wetland, but there
are ways in which the impact of mass tourism can be [13] Kirkconnell, Arturo.
Zapata Rail (Cyanolimnas
cerverai): uplist to Critically Endangered?". BirdLife
mitigated.[27]
forum. Birdlife International. Retrieved 13 March 2010.

In the longer term, the Ramsar-listed[28] swamp itself

may be threatened. Rising sea levels due to global warm- [14] Raelle et al. (2003) 132.
ing could contaminate the wetland with saltwater, damaging the plants and fauna, and by 2100 the area of Cinaga [15] Raelle et al. (2003) 192.
de Zapata would be reduced by one-fth. Higher ocean
temperatures resulting from climate change could also [16] Olson, Storrs L (December 1974). A new species of
Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil
lead to stronger hurricanes and drought. Bouza warned
rails
from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae)" (PDF). Prothat the fallen vegetation left by hurricanes could act as
ceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 87 (38):
[29]
fuel for further damaging res once it had dried out.
439450.

[17] Bond et al. (2001) 69.

References

[18] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 47.

[1] BirdLife International (2015). "Cyanolimnas cerverai".

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2015:
e.T22692737A78916253. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.20154.RLTS.T22692737A78916253.en. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
[2] Barbour, Thomas; Peters, James Lee (1927). Two more
remarkable new birds from Cuba. Proceedings of the New
England Zoological Club. 9: 9597.
[3] Jobling (1992) 66.
[4] Barbour, Thomas (January 1928).
Cuban birds (PDF). The Auk.

Notes on three
45 (1): 2832.

[19] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 39.

[20] Roots (2006) 6162.
[21] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 34.
[22] Taylor & van Perlo (1998) 62.
[23] Fuller (2000) 118122.
[24] Kirwan, Guy M; Brinkhuizen, Duan; Caldern, Diego;
Davis, Bradley; Minns, Jeremy (2015). Neotropical
Notebook. Neotropical Birding. 16: 4362.

[25] Yu, Yamamoto; Kubota, Satoshi; Ohtani, Kazuhiro;

Galano, Tsai Garcia; Soto, Comabella Yamile; Yamaoka,
Kosaku (2024 October 2008). Organoleptic test of
Clariid catsh and Japanese surimi products for Cuban
people. Proceedings of the 5th World Fisheries Congress.
Yokohama, Japan: World Council of Fisheries Societies.
pp. 4a 0771 554.
[26] de la Rosa Medero, Daniel; Campbell, Linda (2008).
Implications of Clarias gariepinus (African Catsh)
propagation in Cuban waters. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. 4 (4): 521522.
doi:10.1897/IEAM_2008-060f.1. PMID 19130651.
[27] Becker, Hilary Tourism in Cuba in Font, Mauricio A;
Ribio, Carlos (2015). Handbook of Contemporary Cuba:
Economy, Politics, Civil Society, and Globalization. London: Routledge. pp. 111123. ISBN 978-1-61205-2250.
[28] The Annotated Ramsar List: Cuba. RAMSAR. Retrieved 10 March 2010
[29] Grogg, Patricia (May 2008). Climate change-Cuba:
Prized Wetland in Danger. IPS News. IPS.

Cited texts
Bond, James; Eckelberry, Don R; Singer, Arthur B;
Poole, Earl L (2001). A Field Guide to Birds of the
West Indies. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifin. ISBN 0-618-00210-3.
Fuller, Errol (2000). Extinct Birds. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850837-9.
Jobling, James A. (1992). A Dictionary of Scientic
Bird Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19854634-3.
Raaele, Herbert A; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando H; Keith, Allan R; Raaele, Janis I (2003).
Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-5419-8.
Roots, Clive (2006). Flightless Birds. Greenwood
Press. ISBN 0-313-33545-1.
Taylor, Barry; van Perlo, Ber (2000). Rails. Pica /
Christopher Helm. ISBN 1-873403-59-3.

External links
Image of Cervera and his Zapata birds at Birding
Cuba

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Zapata rail Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapata_rail?oldid=743877402 Contributors: William Avery, Jimfbleak, Wetman, Smallweed, Timrollpickering, MistToys, Xezbeth, Hesperian, Dave.Dunford, Gene Nygaard, Stemonitis, Ucucha, Eubot, DVdm, CambridgeBayWeather, TDogg310, Nikkimaria, Caballero1967, Gilliam, Jprg1966, J. Spencer, Snowmanradio, Thor Dockweiler, Mike1901,
Mgiganteus1, Mr Stephen, Sasata, Iridescent, Andrew Davidson, Bruinfan12, Stavenn, Cydebot, Thijs!bot, Dr. Blofeld, WolfmanSF,
Pvmoutside, CommonsDelinker, DrKay, Herbythyme, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Gemini1980, MeegsC, SixOfDiamonds, Rabo3, Sun
Creator, NuclearWarfare, Birdingcuba64~enwiki, Addbot, CarsracBot, PopularOutcast, MuZemike, Luckas-bot, Amirobot, Totodu74,
AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Aa77zz, Citation bot 1, Innotata, Tbhotch, RjwilmsiBot, Billare, EmausBot, GoingBatty,
ClueBot NG, Ugelefaf, Dexbot, EauOo, Monkbot, DBrant (WMF), TJH2018, Crystallizedcarbon, CyanoTex, Linguist111, GreenC bot,
Melanielopez0214, Syrup sauce chicken, Kelsey406, Elliott.neal, Jakedinsmore and Anonymous: 16

9.2

Images

File:Caribou_from_Wagon_Trails.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Caribou_from_Wagon_Trails.

jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Clarias_garie_080516_9146_tdp.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Clarias_garie_080516_
9146_tdp.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: W.A. Djatmiko (Wie146)
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Eagle_01.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Eagle_01.svg License: CC0 Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Cuba.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Flag_of_Cuba.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Drawn by User:Madden Original artist: see below
File:Issoria_lathonia.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Issoria_lathonia.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:James_Bond_1974.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/James_Bond_1974.jpg License: CC BYSA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jerry Freilich
File:Wikispecies-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Wikispecies-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Image:Wikispecies-logo.jpg Original artist: (of code) cs:User:-xfi File:Zapata_swamp.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Zapata_swamp.JPG License: Public domain
Contributors:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/images/ESC/small/ISS004/ISS004-E-9908.JPG Original artist: NASA

9.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0