Template:POTD/2024-01-15
The buff-banded rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis) is a medium-sized bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-west Pacific region, covering a range of latitudes from the tropics to the subantarctic. It utilises a range of moist or wetland habitats with low, dense vegetation for cover. The buff-banded rail is a largely terrestrial bird with the size of a small domestic chicken, with mainly brown upperparts, finely banded black-and-white underparts, a white eyebrow, and a chestnut band running from the bill round the nape, with a buff band on the breast. It is an omnivorous scavenger that feeds on a range of terrestrial invertebrates and small vertebrates, seeds, fallen fruit and other vegetable matter, as well as carrion and refuse. This buff-banded rail was photographed in Newington, New South Wales.Photograph credit: JJ Harrison