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

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
2024	Least Concern
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2007	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,000,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	3,200,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	2.5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Previously, this species was thought to be very rare, with some sources (e.g. Brazil 2009) suggesting that the population probably numbered only hundreds of pairs. However, confirmation of the species' vocalisations (see Wulf et al. 2017) has allowed surveys to determine that it is likely much more numerous. Published densities suggest the species is locally common, with values of 3-5 birds/km² recorded in Russia (Antonov and Parilov 2009) and, in Japan, up to 15 birds have been heard vocalising at a single wetland site only 1 km² in size (Senzaki et al. 2021). Applying these values to form a population estimate is difficult due to uncertainties with the breeding range and the extent of suitable habitat. Historically, the species was mapped as breeding in two highly disjunct regions in Transbaikalia (Russia) and the Primorye area, especially near Khanka Lake, in the very south-east of Russia, however there are recent records from intervening areas (Heim et al. 2018, eBird 2022) as well as northern Japan (Senzaki et al. 2021) suggesting a much broader distribution than previously supposed. In the absence of data from which to derive an estimate of suitable habitat extent, the population size is therefore considered unknown, although it is suspected that it is not very small.

Trend justification: There are no data available to calculate a rate of population reduction in this species, although it is not thought to be declining especially rapidly. Nonetheless, slow declines are suspected because of ongoing conversion of wetland habitats across its range (BirdLife International 2001, Senzaki et al. 2021).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Japan	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes		yes
North Korea	extant	native			yes
Russia	extant	native		yes
South Korea	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
China (mainland)	Daiyun Shan Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Dongting Hu wetlands
China (mainland)	Jiugong Shan Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Mao'er Shan Forest Farm
China (mainland)	Poyang Hu wetlands
China (mainland)	Suichuan
Japan	Hotokenuma, Lake Ogawara and nearby lakes
North Korea	Lake Kwangpo
Russia (Asian)	Khanka plain
Russia (Asian)	Torey lakes

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	major	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	major	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 400 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%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Gathering terrestrial plants - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Swinhoe's Rail Coturnicops exquisitus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/swinhoes-rail-coturnicops-exquisitus 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.