• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Laterallus spilonota (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously listed as L. spilonotus.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C1+2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Vulnerable	C1+2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2013	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2012	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2008	Vulnerable	B1a+b(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2006	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	15,100 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	3300-6700 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2000
Population trend	decreasing	poor	estimated	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	6	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population was estimated to number 5,000-10,000 individuals by Rosenberg (1990), and repeat surveys on Santa Cruz Island in 2000 gave broadly similar results. This roughly equates to 3,300-6,700 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is undergoing a slow decline. The rate of decline was extrapolated from a decline in detections of 9% (c.f. 1986-1987 surveys) during 2000 surveys on Santa Cruz (Gibbs et al. 2003). By 2007, the decline was steeper (Shriver et al. 2011). Therefore, the population decline is here tentatively placed in the band 1-19% over ten years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Ecuador	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Ecuador	Áreas costeras de Fernandina y del occidente de Isabela
Ecuador	Isla San Cristóbal
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Isabela
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Santa Cruz
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Santiago

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1700 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Bos taurus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Capra hircus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Cinchona pubescens	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Equus caballus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Asio flammeus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Tyto alba	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Galapagos Rail Laterallus spilonota. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/galapagos-rail-laterallus-spilonota on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.