Sakalava rail
Zapornia olivieri (G. Grandidier & Berlioz, 1929)
The sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 86.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
Quick facts about the sakalava rail
- Weight
- 86.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the sakalava rail live?
Not recorded
What is the sakalava rail?
The Sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri) is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to western Madagascar. This bird is small with brown upperpart feathers, grey underparts, a yellow bill and red legs.
The habitat of this rail species is freshwater marshes of reed Phragmites mauritianus. It is classified as Endangered and is threatened by habitat loss due to the destruction of wetlands in Madagascar.
From the Wikipedia article “Sakalava rail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sakalava_rail&oldid=1383372344), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the sakalava rail endangered?
The sakalava rail is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the sakalava rail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusZapornia
- SpeciesZapornia olivieri (G. Grandidier & Berlioz, 1929)
Synonyms Amaurornis olivieri, Porzana olivieri
Other names and names in other languages (42)
- Olivier's crakeEnglish
- Olivier's railEnglish
- مرعة ساكالافاArabic
- Oliver kiçik sufərəsiAzerbaijani
- polla d'OlivierCatalan
- chřástal OlivierůvCzech
- chřástal sakalavskýCzech
- Rhegen OlivierWelsh
- Sakalava RørhøneDanish
- MalegassenkielralleGerman
- MalegassensumpfhuhnGerman
- sakalava raloEsperanto
- Polluela negra malgacheSpanish
- sakalava huikEstonian
- madagaskarinhuittiFinnish
- Râle d'OlivierFrench
- Marouette d'OlivierFrench
- Marouette d’OlivierFrench
- madagaskarska štijokaCroatian
- madagaszkári vízicsibeHungarian
- Rallo sakalavaItalian
- Gallinella di OlivierItalian
- マダガスカルクロクイナJapanese
- madagaskarinis amaurornisLithuanian
- KibedabedaMalagasy
- Oliviers WaterhoenDutch
- gassersvartrikseNorwegian
- kureczka madagaskarskaPolish
- bagiewnik madagaskarskiPolish
- sanã-sakalavaPortuguese
- franga-d'água-sacalavaPortuguese
- franga-d'água-sakalavaPortuguese
- franga-de-água-sacalavaPortuguese
- Мадагаскарский погонышRussian
- Оливьеров малый пастушокRussian
- chriašť žltozobýSlovak
- Severnomadagaskarski barski petlićSerbian
- sakalavasumphönaSwedish
- Madagaskar Kara YelvesiTurkish
- багновик мадагаскарськийUkrainian
- 马岛苦恶鸟Chinese
- 馬達加斯加苦惡鳥Chinese
Relatives of the sakalava rail
Other species in the same genus Zapornia.
Baillon's crake
Zapornia pusilla
Little crake
Zapornia parva
Ruddy-breasted crake
Zapornia fusca
Brown crake
Zapornia akool
Spotless crake
Zapornia tabuensis
Black crake
Zapornia flavirostra
CompareSakalava rail vs Baillon's crakeSakalava rail vs Little crakeSakalava rail vs Ruddy-breasted crakeSakalava rail vs Brown crake
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the sakalava rail?
An adult sakalava rail weighs 86.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the sakalava rail endangered?
The sakalava rail is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the sakalava rail?
The sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sakalava-rail
“Sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sakalava-rail.
@misc{sakalava_rail_2026,
title = {Sakalava rail (Zapornia olivieri)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sakalava-rail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}