CIBED - - Spotless Crake - Mo‘omo‘o MG

Zapornia tabuensis Spotless Crake Mo‘omo‘o ^MG

f.RALLIDAE Rails

Zapornia tabuensis Spotless Crake Mo‘omo‘o ^MG

f.RALLIDAE Rails

Cook Islands Status Summary

Show Notes

Intl. NamesSpotless Crake ^EN Südsee‑Sumpfhuhn ^DE

Local NamesMo‘omo‘o^MG Mo‘o^AT,MK,MT Kurāmo‘o^MK

Pacific NamesNo Content

Sci. NamesZapornia tabuensis (accepted name) , Porzana tabuensis, Rallus tabuensis, Rallus minutus, Zapornia tabuensis tabuensis, Zapornia tabuensis plumbea

High Tax. Eng.k.Animals, p.Vertebrates, c.Birds, f.Rails - Bird

High Tax. Latink.ANIMALIA, p.CHORDATA, sp.GNATHOSTOMATA, spc.TETRAPODA, c.AVES, sc.NEOGNATHAE, o.Gruiformes, f.RALLIDAE

Natl. PresencePresent

Sth. PresenceRR^-MG⁺AT⁺MK⁺MT⁺⁺⁺AK^-PL^-MN^-TK^-

Nth. PresenceTN^-MH^-RK^-PK^-NS^-SW^-

VouchersNo Content

Local OriginNative; Resident

Global RangeNo Content

HabitatLand

ThreatenedNationally endangered - seriously

InvasivenessNo Content

BiosecurityNo Content

Medical StatusNo Content

Harmful StatusNo Content

UsesNo Content

IdentificationNo Content

Multimedia & Other Resources

Photographs: 4
Video: 0
Audio: 0
Documents: 0
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5BD042_Zapo-tabu_

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Adult - Ātiu (temporarily caged)

in Australia

in Canberra, Australia

compare: Henderson Crake

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Vernacular Names

English and International Names

Spotless Crake ^EN Südsee-Sumpfhuhn^DE

Pacific Names

No Pacific Names

Local Names

Mo‘omo‘o^MG Mo‘o^AT,MK,MT Kurāmo‘o^MK

National Name: Mo‘omo‘o ^MG

Island	Status	Main name
National name	MG	Mo‘omo‘o
Rarotonga	-	A,nN
Mangaia	+	Mo‘omo‘o
Ātiu	+	Mo‘o
Ma‘uke	+	Mo‘o / Kurāmo‘o
Miti‘āro	+++	Mo‘o
Aitutaki	-	A,nN
Palmerston	-	A,nN
Tongareva-write	-	A,nN
Tongareva-speak	-	A,nN
Manihiki	-	A,nN
Rakahanga	-	A,nN
Pukapuka	-	A,nN
Nassau	-	A,nN

Scientific Names and Taxonomy

Accepted Name

Zapornia tabuensis (Gmelin, 1789) del Hoyo and Collar, 2014

Synonyms

Porzana tabuensis (Gray, 1829) [genus until 2014 change to Zapornia]

Rallus tabuensis Gmelin, 1789

Rallus minutus J.R.Forster

Zapornia tabuensis tabuensis [ssp. range: Philippines, Australasia and Oceania]

Zapornia tabuensis plumbea [ssp. range: SW-SE Australia - NZ & Chathams]

Note

**The controversy:** Gmelin based his species on a description of a painting c.1774 by Georg Forster naturalist on Cook's 2nd Voyage. Forster's painting is inscribed with "Taheitee" and "Maho", being where he painted it and the local name. His fathermore... J.R.Forster named it in his ms. as Rallus minutus basing his description on specimens and noted its presence in Tahiti and Tongatapu. (Walters, 1988) Walter's analysed the complex history surrounding the painting and Latin names to conclude that Georg Forster's painting was actually Rallus nigra, now Zopornia nigra, the Tahiti Crake which became extinct by 1800. The Tahiti Crake lacked the conspicuous brown mantle of the Spotless Crake. Georg Forster's painting is included in CIBED.

Subspecies: not recognized in Wikipedia based on IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin". (August 2022) eds. Gill, F., Donsker, D. and Rasmussen, P.

High Tax. Eng.k.Animals, p.Vertebrates, c.Birds, f.Rails - Bird

- Bird

Higher Taxonomy

kingdom ANIMALIA Metazoa, Animals

phylum CHORDATA Vertebrates

subphylum GNATHOSTOMATA

superclass TETRAPODA Four-legged Vertebrates

class AVES Birds

subclass NEOGNATHAE

order Gruiformes

family RALLIDAE Rails, Rail

Zapornia tabuensis

National Distribution & Vouchers

National Presence:

Present

Oceanic

Absent

islands: [ , {label: 'Rarotonga', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 404.5, left: 210.5, labelLeft: 222, labelTop: 404} , {label: 'Mangaia', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 427.5, left: 261.5, labelLeft: 274, labelTop: 426} , {label: 'Ātiu', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 372.5, left: 261.5, labelLeft: 244, labelTop: 382} , {label: 'Ma‘uke', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 374.5, left: 282.5, labelLeft: 284, labelTop: 385} , {label: 'Miti‘āro', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 358.5, left: 274.5, labelLeft: 283, labelTop: 351} , {label: 'Aitutaki', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 334.5, left: 210.5, labelLeft: 209, labelTop: 321} , {label: 'Palmerston', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 309.5, left: 112.5, labelLeft: 124, labelTop: 309} , {label: 'Manuae', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 346.5, left: 234.5, labelLeft: 244, labelTop: 338} , {label: 'Takūtea', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 362.5, left: 254.5, labelLeft: 211, labelTop: 363} , {label: 'Tongareva', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 32.5, left: 260.5, labelLeft: 205, labelTop: 31} , {label: 'Manihiki', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 80.5, left: 175.5, labelLeft: 187, labelTop: 80} , {label: 'Rakahanga', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 63.5, left: 173.5, labelLeft: 186, labelTop: 63} , {label: 'Pukapuka', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 88.5, left: 33.5, labelLeft: 45, labelTop: 88} , {label: 'Nassau', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 108.5, left: 46.5, labelLeft: 59, labelTop: 108} , {label: 'Suwarrow', stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 162.5, left: 115.5, labelLeft: 127, labelTop: 162} ] , legend: [{label: 'Not Assessed', top: 235, stroke: '#0000a0', fill: '#ffffff', symbol: 'WR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: 'Present', top: 250, stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: '? Present', top: 265, stroke: '#006600', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GWR', tris: '#ACACAC', trif: '#ffffff'}, {label: 'Absent', top: 280, stroke: '#C00000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: '? Absent', top: 295, stroke: '#C00000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RWR', tris: '#c0c0c0', trif: '#ffffff'}, {label: 'Intercepted', top: 312, stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RDR', tris: '#000000', trif: '#000000'}, {label: 'Extirpated/Extinct', top: 331, stroke: '#006600', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'RGR', tris: '#660000', trif: '#CC0000'} ]

Island	Status
Rarotonga	Absent
Mangaia	+
Ātiu	+
Ma‘uke	+
Miti‘āro	+++
Aitutaki	Absent
Palmerston	Absent
Manuae	Absent
Takūtea	Absent
Tongareva	Absent
Manihiki	Absent
Rakahanga	Absent
Pukapuka	Absent
Nassau	Absent
Suwarrow	Absent

Vouchers for:
Zapornia tabuensis

Cook Islands

Southern

Northern

Oceanic

Rarotonga

Mangaia

Ātiu

Ma‘uke

Miti‘āro

Aitutaki

Palmerston

Manuae

Takūtea

Tongareva

Manihiki

Rakahanga

Pukapuka

Nassau

Suwarrow

no data available

Identification

Local Origin and Global Range

Habitat

Threatened

no data available

Invasive/Pest Status

no data available

Biosecurity

Medicinal

no data available

Species Uses

References

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2026) Cook Islands Biodiversity & Ethnobiology Database, Version 2026.03.23 - Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at https://naturalheritage.gov.ck/cibed
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Vernacular Names

Accepted Name

Synonyms

Note

Vouchers for: Zapornia tabuensis

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Zapornia tabuensis