Great Maui Crake
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| Great Maui Crake | ||||||||||||||
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Extinct (Early 1100s)
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| Porzana severnsi (Olson, 1973) |
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 Island of Maui
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The Great Maui Rail or Great Maui Crake (Porzana severnsi) is an extinct bird species from Maui, one of two flightless rails which have survived on Maui until people arrived in 150 C.E.
It was the larger of two species of Rail found on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Several specimens of this bird were found in early settlements. It was 1 feet 3 inches tall. Its beak was 0.75 inch long; its neck was 8.5 inches long. It was probably brown and grey and black like its recently exinct relatives the Hawaiian Rail and Laysan Rail. It was flightless due to its small wings that were on average less than 4 inches long.
It probably feed on the fruits, leaves, and flowers of trees that fell onto the ground, preferably O'hia, Mamane, and Lobelias.
It cause of extiction is not very well known but it was likely hunted for meat, and its bones and feathers were used in old style art. It may have also have been attacked by Polynesian Rats that were brought by the natives by accident.
[edit] External links
- BirdLife International (2004). Porzana ralphorum. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 9 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is extinct
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