The rediscovery of a Galapagos island land bird once thought to be extinct and gone unseen for the nearly 200 years since its first sighting by Charles Darwin in 1835, has been hailed a breakthrough moment for local conservation and restorations efforts today and for the future.

Sightings of the Galapagos rail (also known as the Galapagos crake) on the island of Floreana marks the first official record of the bird on its shores in nearly two centuries, owing – conservation groups local to the island have said – to being overrun and outcompeted by invasive species including, most recently, cats and rodents.

This week, scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Fundacion de Conservacion Jocotoco, and the Galapagos National Park Directorate confirmed the persistence of the Galapagos Rail (Laterallus spilonota) on the island of Floreana, hailing the rediscovery as the flag-bearer for success of the large-scale eradication programme implemented across the island last year.

A small land bird, weighing between 35 to 45 grams with dark grey plumage, a brown back, red eyes, and fine white speckles across the rear half of its body, the Galapagos rail is a terrestrial bird, endemic to the Galapagos islands, once thought to be locally extinct upon the island of Floreana. 

Classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN, the species can actually be found in relatively good health across Fernandina, Isabela, Pinta, Pinzon, Santa Cruz, and Santiago. It’s also, however, a bird that has been severely impacted by invasive species – nowhere more so than on the island of Floreana.

Historically, Floreana island has been overrun with such species, including feral pigs, goats, cows, dogs, and more recently invasive cats and rodents. These introduced predators and competitors are believed to have played a major role in the decline of native wildlife, including the Galapagos Rail, and especially in the period before the creation of the island’s National Park in 1959. 

Despite extensive and repeated surveys – the most recent conducted in 1987 by scientist Daniel Rosenberg that included playback recordings at 150 locations – the species simply remained undetected. Since then, no visual or acoustic records had been made, leading many to believe the species was locally extinct. And, while anecdotal reports hinted at the bird’s possible persistence on Floreana, confirmation had remained elusive… until now.

Known for its furtive nature, often hiding in dense vegetation like tall grass and tangled forest understory, the Galapagos rail emits a variety of vocalisations, including chucks, churrs, squeaks, and extended rattles across its habitats in both highland and coastal mangrove areas.

It was during their most recent annual land bird monitoring trip to the island that scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation, alongside park rangers, recorded the elusive bird at three different sites in Floreana’s transition zone, a grassland overgrown with guava trees, far from agricultural areas. The confirmed findings now include six acoustic records, two visual confirmations, and one photograph. 

“This is a beautiful surprise,” said Brigit Fessl, principal investigator for landbird conservation efforts at the Charles Darwin Foundation. “There are two possible explanations for these new records: either the Galapagos Rail recolonised the island, or it was never truly extinct but remained undetected due to extremely low population numbers.

“The latter is more likely, as these birds are not strong flyers, and their presence at multiple sites suggests they have been there all along, just in very low numbers.”

Local conservationists have since called this rediscovery a ‘significant step forward’ for the Floreana Restoration Project which previously identified the Galapagos Rail as one of 12 locally extinct species targeted for reintroduction. The record of its reappearance comes a year after a large-scale eradication campaign, led by the Galapagos National Park Directorate and Fundacion Jocotoco with support from Island Conservation and other partners, took place at the end of 2023.

The campaign successfully removed most invasive cats and rats from the island, likely playing a crucial role in creating a safer environment for the species’ recovery.

“This finding demonstrates that ecosystems can recover if given the opportunity,” said Arturo Izurieta, director of the Galapagos National Park Directorate. “The eradication of invasive species has allowed a species we believed to be locally extinct to once again be part of Floreana’s environment.”

The next steps for researchers now will include genetic sampling to determine whether the Galapagos rail population newly recorded on Floreana is a reintroduced lineage or a remnant population that managed to survive undetected for nearly two centuries.

Scientists have said that either way, this discovery is a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to safeguard the biodiversity of the Galapagos islands.

“The removal of invasive species is a game-changer for Floreana’s biodiversity,” said Victor Carrion, island restoration coordinator for the Jocotoco Galapagos Programme. “It is highly likely that the impact of the eradication campaign on feral cats and rodents has provided a safer environment for the Galapagos rail to survive and potentially increase in numbers.

“This discovery gives us great hope for the island’s restoration efforts.”

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