r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • 16d ago
Verified The Okinawa rail is Japan's only flightless bird — found exclusively on the island of Okinawa. Before nightfall, it uses its powerful clawed feet to climb trees, where it sleeps to avoid nocturnal-hunting pit vipers. In the morning, it drops back down in a graceless fluttering of wings.
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u/IdyllicSafeguard 16d ago
Sources:
Japan Poultry Science Association
Yamashina Institute of Ornithology
Japan Nature Guides by Mark Brazil
BRAZIL, M. (2022). Japan: The natural history of an asian archipelago. Princeton University Press.
Yambaru Wildlife Conservation Center (Ministry of Environment)
Competitive exclusion of a burying beetle by mongoose by Akira Ueda.
NHK World Japan - Yambaru Natural World Heritage Site
National Parks of Japan - Yambaru Wildlife Conservation Center Ufugi Nature Museum
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u/Missy_Baseball2911 16d ago
There are few things funnier than watching a bird run. Like Tina from Bob’s Burgers, just faster.🤣
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u/ElSquibbonator 3d ago
Minor correction: the Okinawa rail actually can fly, though not very well and not for long distances. It is believed to be in the process of losing its capacity to fly, and Wikipedia describes the rail as "almost flightless".
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u/IdyllicSafeguard 16d ago
There have long been rumours of a cryptic creature living in the forests of northern Okinawa Island. A sound recording in 1964, a sighting in the early 70s, a corpse in '73 and a photograph in '75 — for years the creature eluded capture. Eventually, this mystery attracted the attention of an ornithological research institute in Tokyo. A team from the institute officially confirmed the creature's existence in 1978 and after catching several live specimens, it was described as an entirely new species to science; the Okinawa rail.
The Okinawa rail lives only on a single island; Okinawa Island — a part of Japan's southern Ryukyu Island Chain. On this subtropical island, the rail inhabits the Yanbaru area, which covers the northern third of Okinawa, more specifically in the Yanbaru Forest.
To escape dangerous nocturnal predators, like the local habu pit viper, the rail uses its powerful legs and toes to climb trees — since it cannot fly — where it sleeps out the night.
While adults escape to arboreal safety, their eggs remain on the ground in nests of loose grasses and leaves — and probably in some considerable danger. The fuzzy black chicks that do hatch soon begin to stumble about after their mum and dad, who both care for the young.
One local name for the Okinawa rail, Agachaa, translates to "a sudden fright". Although the rail itself isn't very scary — only being some 30 cm (11.8 in) long — its habit of sprinting suddenly across paths and roads, or crashing out of trees in the morning, might be startling enough to inspire the nickname. Alternatively, its calls, which sound like shrill screams and clattering laughter, might be its most frightening feature.
The rail eats a varied forest-floor diet, but it's particularly fond of snails. It brings them to a large rock, upon which it cracks open their shells, and then eats their gooey insides. Broken shells often pile up near these escargot dining sites.