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

Taxonomic note
Rallus elegans and R. tenuirostris (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as R. elegans following AOU (2000). Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993) included tenuirostris within R. longirostris.

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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2014	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	238,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	15000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.28 years	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size is currently estimated to total ~15,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be declining owing to the degradation of its wetland habitat.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Mexico	Lago de Texcoco

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	non-breeding
Altitude	800 - 2500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mexican Rail Rallus tenuirostris. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mexican-rail-rallus-tenuirostris on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.