Tales of the City – Starring Buff-banded Rails
32These Buff-banded Rails (Gallirallus philippenis) were filmed on numerous occasions between mid January and mid March 2020 at Tumbalong Park in the Darling Harbour precinct of Sydney’s CBD. Tumbalong Park is a five hectare site largely designed to provide both green space and recreation opportunities (e.g. children’s play areas). Much of the landscaping consists of Australian native plants, but we have noted some exotics in the mix (e.g. philodendrons), especially where the rails appear to be living and thriving. (Photo 2 shows the exact location in the foreground.) BIBY TV strongly promotes the use of native plants, but this video shows how some exotics can contribute to habitat. Hence, we all should observe how animals use our gardens before making changes and ensure replacement plants have similar benefits. Buff-banded Rails undoubtedly appreciate this dense tussocky vegetation as their typical behaviour is to skulk about and forage under cover near water.
Buff-banded Rails are not uncommon birds, but their behaviour can make them elusive. Unlike some members of the Rallidae family, such as communal Eurasian Coots and raucous Australasian Swamphens, this rather quiet and often solitary species can easily slip under the radar even in the most likely habitats. For instance, just the odd individual is usually noted (on ebird.org) over a couple of months in bigger, more clearly suitable parklands within Sydney (e.g. Centennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park, Royal Botanic Gardens and Eastlakes Golf Course). So you can imagine how thrilled we were when the city worker in the BIBY TV team saw Buff-banded Rails for the first time at Tumbalong Park during a lunch break in early January. Until then, he was simply grateful for the “usual suspects”, that is birds who are generally comfortable in urban areas (e.g. Silver Gull, Australian White Ibis, Noisy Miner, Welcome Swallow, Australian Raven, Australian Magpie, Rainbow Lorikeet and the feral Rock Dove). Inspired by the rails’ beauty and endearing ways, he decided to film them with an iPhone 7 as the usual camera gear and tripod would be awkward in that situation. The only new equipment bought for this adventure was a selfie stick. A much better use for it surely....
The footage across two months isn’t presented in a linear fashion. Instead, you will meet the main star of this video in the opening scenes, which were captured in early March. This adorable bird was affectionately called Limpy after he/she (sexes alike) appeared with a newly injured leg in late January. Before then, this individual was seen (in juvenile plumage) darting about with a likely sibling and two adults (presumably parents). Of course, we were concerned about this injury and perplexed about how it happened. But we have seen several birds with unworkable or missing legs or feet who get about quite well on the good leg and possibly survive for many years. And with each passing day we saw Limpy manage the disability with greater ease while developing the stunning adult plumage. (There are various glimpses of the younger rails in January and their later appearance, as well as adult birds. One example of the duller juvenile form in mid January can be seen around 6.03 on the video.)
Not only did our resilient rail and its family appear to relish the vegetation and shallow water (with little floating platforms), they took advantage of human activity. Although no one was seen directly feeding them, the rails and other birds would feast on dropped scraps (e.g. bread). Obviously this is not ideal for any of the bird species, but thankfully the rails also had a more natural diet of invertebrates and plant matter (e.g. fallen figs). Juveniles can fend for themselves, but sometimes the female parent brings them food. (An example of this can be found at 5.09, with fed youngster out of sight.) Keen birders might notice some intriguing bird calls that you wouldn’t expect in this urban setting (e.g. Fan-tailed Cuckoo). This bird soundscape (see 3.46 for one of the speakers in situ) was actually created by the artist Janet Laurence and represents indigenous birds of the area pre-development (https://www.iccsydney.com.au/Visit-ICC-Sydney/Precinct-Art). Note that we have presented Buff-banded Rail calls from this filmed family during the introductory photos. And yes, that gorgeous rail in photo 1 is Limpy (in mid March)! Wings are opened for sunbathing. For more information on these delightful birds please visit https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Gallirallus-philippensis