Pale-vented Bush-hen

The pale-vented bush-hen or rufous-tailed bush-hen (Amaurornis moluccana) is a medium sized waterbird, mainly blue-grey with a buff vent and undertail. The species is a member of the family Rallidae which includes crakes and rails. The genus name Amaurornis (Reichenbach 1853) is from the Greek for dark, shadowy or dim, amauros, and bird, ornis. The species name Amaurornis moluccana (Wallace, 1865) means "Moluccan dark and shadowy bird" and relates its original discovery in the Moluccan Islands, Indonesia. (Wikipedia, general species account).

Its recorded distribution includes Australia, the Moluccan Islands, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Gould believed he had found a new species, Gallinula ruficrissa in 1869 giving it the common name of rufous-vented gallinule. Its recorded distribution includes low, dense vegetation on the edge of water courses or wetlands. The bird is found in Australia, the Moluccan Islands, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. (Wikipedia, general species account).