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The Okinawa rail (''Gallirallus okinawae'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the . Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 although unidentified rails had been recorded on the island since at least 1973 and local stories of a bird known as the ''agachi kumira'' may refer to this species.〔Brazil, Mark A. (1991) ''The Birds of Japan'', Christopher Helm, London.〕 It is a medium-sized and almost flightless rail with short wings and tail, olive-brown upperparts, black underparts with white bars and a red bill and legs. It occurs in subtropical moist forests and in neighbouring habitats. It nests and feeds on the ground but usually roosts in trees. It is classified as an endangered species and is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators.〔 ==Taxonomy== The species was first described in 1981 by Yoshimaro Yamashina and T. Mano in the ''Journal of the Yamashina Institute of Ornithology''.〔Peterson, Alan P. (2002) ''(Zoonomen Nomenclatural data )''. Downloaded on 22 October 2008.〕 This was based on a specimen found dead on June 2 at Mt. Fuenchiji in Kunigami District, Okinawa.〔〔Taylor, Barry & Ber van Perlo (1998) ''Rails: A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World'', Pica Press, Sussex. 〕 It was initially placed in the genus ''Rallus'' but then moved to ''Gallirallus'', a genus of medium-sized, often flightless, rails found in Australasia and Asia. It is closely related to the barred rail (''G. torquatus'') and New Britain rail (''G. insignis'') as well as to the Calayan rail (''G. calayanensis''), another recently discovered species.〔〔BirdLife International (2004) ''(Remarkable rail discovered "just in time" )''. Downloaded on 22 October 2008.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Okinawa rail」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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