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Project Noah Nature School
Cyanolimnas cerverai
This is a very poorly-known waterbird endemic to Cuba, and today a relict species from the Zapata Swamp in western Cuba. The bird’s elusive nature has caused confusion within the ornithological community as to its status – confusion that may have unwittingly provided a smoke screen to a very real threat that may be driving the species to extinction.
Swamps, Cuba
from the web: Due to its extremely small known range and an apparent catastrophic decline in related species due to the recent arrival of the invasive predatory catfish, Zapata Rail was uplisted by BirdLife to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Being potentially close to extinction, there is an urgent need for a reliable assessment of the species’ range and population on which to base conservation actions. BirdLife, working in collaboration with Centro Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CNAP, BirdLife in Cuba) and Cuba’s Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, is actively seeking funding to support such an assessment.
Spotted on Nov 3, 2012
Submitted on Nov 13, 2012
7 Comments
OK Jonathan. Have a good time in Cuba. It definitely isn't Zapata Rail - sorry.
I will arrive in Cuba on May 3, I will be there fofr 10 days, I request a better picture of this bird from a friend from Brasil, I will let you know about .... If necesary I will delete my spotting, but I am waiting for opinions....Thanks again
No, I have been birding in Cuba for 26 years and have never seen one. I have a project to study them (with BirdLife) but we are having trouble getting funding for this. I hope that we can do it next year.
Thanks for your comment, I will go back to Cuba in some days, I will double checked as well... Have you ever seen one?? Where? I
Sorry, but this is definitely not a Zapata Rail. I knew it wasn't as soon as I saw the photo but double-checked with Arturo Kirkconnell whoo is the author of the Cuban field guide. Our bst guess is immature Glossy Ibis.
There is no known colour photo of Zapata Rail. I know of one (very old) black-and white image.
I will correct that sorry
It is a great spoting, Jonathan. You mentioned a "Donate" button, but there is none... Maybe you could put on the website's URL?