EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Red-necked Crake

Red-necked Crake (Rallina tricolor), Family Rallidae
Queensland, Australia

Explanation:  While lodging at the Cassowary House (well-named!) in Kuranda, Queensland, Australia, one evening from the balcony I spied this lurking forest-floor bird come to feed at dusk.  This is a Red-necked Crake, a resident of New Guinea and northeast Australia.  

Red-necked Crakes are often sedentary during the daytime, resting in damp spots on the rainforest floor.  The bird is unmistakable, with adults having a bright chestnut breast, neck, and head, and a green bill, red eyes, and dark olive legs.  

I was lucky to encounter this individual, as they are usually timid and difficult to find in the forest undergrowth.  There seems to be no estimate of the total size of its populations, although it is categorized as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List.