The black-tailed nativehen (''Tribonyx ventralis'') is a rail native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

The black-tailed nativehen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38 cm in length and weighing around 400 g. This species possesses an erect tail and is endowed almost entirely with brownish-grey and green feathers. Its long legs and lower jaw are a striking pink-orange colour, as well as its eyes which are more of a bright orange colour. This species is not excessively vocal, its main call is an alarm 'kak' sound. They become noticeable when they are seen in small flocks on the ground. Their erect tails and social behaviour are reminiscent of domestic hens.

Habitat

This species is nomadic, following seasonal water sources. It is found year-round living near fresh and brackish water.

Distribution

The black-tailed nativehen is common throughout Australia, where it lives by permanent as well as intermittent water sources. It has a large range, with an estimated global

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

of 1,000,000–10,000,000 km². It is classified as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. It is a rare vagrant to New Zealand, and occasional to Tasmania.

Reproduction

Breeding generally takes place between August and December or when conditions are favourable. A cup-shaped nest is built in vegetation near water or swampland. 5–7 pale green eggs are laid and incubated for approximately 20 days.

Diet

This species' diet consists of insects, plant material and seeds. In farming areas, the black-tailed nativehen is capable of causing crop damage.

References

* Birds in Backyards –
Black-tailed Native-hen
* BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Gallinula ventralis. Downloaded fro

on 5/5/2007 * Pizzey, Graham. (1980) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia''. Sydney: William Collins Pty Ltd. {{Taxonbar, from=Q27074651 Tribonyx, black-tailed nativehen Endemic birds of Australia

black-tailed nativehen The black-tailed nativehen (''Tribonyx ventralis'') is a rail native to Australia. Description The black-tailed nativehen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38 cm in length and weighing around 400 g. This species possesses an erect tail ...

Taxa named by John Gould