Spotless crake - New Zealand Bird of the Week

Thirst.

When will humans learn that they're not the only creatures on this world who have a right to it?

Crikey(Steve Erwin voice)

Awesome video as always. I hope we get to hear about the takahē next. Their rediscovery and rescue efforts are truly fascinating. I helped care for one at Willow bank Wildlife Reserve on the South Island. I think it's a good example divergent evolution (if that's the right term for this case) as they share the same ancester as the pukeko who traveled and re-traveled here hundreds of years apart and thus filled different niches.

Awesome

This is AWESOME!

Wow cranes have a all of species.
Great video. Learn something new.

Reminds me of Virginia Crates.

despite living so far away i love seeing you birding videos. great content :-)

Amazing video, you teach me so much! Have a you ever thought about doing prehistoric birds?

I wonder if in the future we will see birds adapt to the introduced rodents!
Maybe you could do a video on your speculative evolution scenario for the future of New Zealand!

They look so angry, this bird is clearly done with everyone's s*** 😅

Gotta love those Europeans

Thanks, Henry love your videos.

Is there any chance that New Zealand will find a way to get rid of invasive speacies? Are there any bigger projects working on this problem?
I really enjoy this series, keep it up!

Nice , love your work !

As a resident of Auckland, NZ, I thank you for this series and am enjoying it as well.
FYI, from the last 45 years of living in West Auckland I have observed: -
1. When I moved here I heard Kiwi every night, but no longer.
2. I once saw a Bittern in the 80's under a 100m from my house, but not since.
3. I once saw a Shining Cuckoo about 11km from where I live, near a place called Te Henga.
4, Only a few months ago I saw a Weka by the side of the road on the way to the shop.
5. Pukeko are still a common sight, and unfortunately, roadkill are not uncommon.
6. About a year ago I spotted a Red-crowned parakeet in central Auckland.
There are more, but not close to Auckland.
Thanks again!

Like the addition of the bird song at the end. Just great! Look forward to the next bird. Hope it's the
Takahe...........🕊

Maybe you could do a video about sexual display in Protoceratops Andrewsi. There is an interesting paper about it.

Hi, I actually take photos of New Zealand birds, if you need any photos I am happy to supply some (given I have taken some decent photos of said bird)

i Read it as "NZBOTW Spotless Cake" And I Was So Confused

Very interesting 😀 really nice to have shorter videos too... To watch during break at work or other busy times

Funnily, the spotless crake looks the least like a crake. Its silhouette, but especially the form of its bill, make it look more like a blackbird or a grackle with the long, stilt-like legs of other gruiformes. Just mask the legs and look at the bird's body: you"ll see what I mean. That peculiar impression comes from the fact that the majority of other Porzana species (the genus to which it belongs) have considerably stouter bills with a small "bump" or slight enlargement at their basis. That's what struck me as a birdwatcher who never saw this bird but is quite familiar with other Porzana crakes (or "rails", as we tend to name such species in North America).. Take for instance two quite common and widespread Porzana crakes, the North American Sora (Porzana carolina), and the " type species" of the genus, "Porzana porzana", the spotted crake, which is very common throughout Europe.
I suppose the vernacular name " spotless crake" was picked up in contrast with the "spotted crake", but there are no two birds more different in their general aspect, with the elongated, " blackbird-like" bill of the " spotless" vs. the short, "chicken-like" bill of the "spotted".
Just to show how crucial scientific names are, as the general aspect of a bird can be so misleading. In fact, the bill of the spotless crake is very atypical for the genus, but is on the other hand, quite representative of the bill found in other major genera of the Rallidae family, such as in the Rallus genus itself (the " true", nominal rails, e.g. the European water rail, Rallus rallus). In fact, when comparing this odd New Zealand crake with rails of the Rallus genus, I am struck by the fact that the spotless crake looks intermediate between a rail and a crake.!

Voting ends this Sunday, due to this being a later video.
The next bird of the week should come out this time next week, and the schedule of uploading on Saturday will continue afterwards.