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The Okinawa Rail

The Okinawa Rail, its Name, Ecology and Crisis

The Okinawa Rail is a flightless rail that is endemic to the Yambaru region in the northern Okinawa Island. It was found to be new to science in 1981 by researchers of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, and was described as a new species.

In the past 20 years, the population of the Okinawa Rail has been on the decline and the distribution has been decreasing. It can be said that it is the most endangered Japanese bird species.

This page introduces the background of the name of the Okinawa Rail, its ecology that the Yamashina Institute has been studying together with local researchers and others since the description, and the status and reasons of the population decline.