of adult birds in 2018 was 212. Following a successful rodent eradication on Lord Howe Island from 2019-2021, the woodhen population has increased significantly. A woodhen survey in 2021 found 598 birds, and in a further survey in March 2022 there were thought to be at least 779. The analysis of the threats to the Lord Howe woodhen, and the implemented solution, is considered a model for conservation biology. A number of possible causes of the decline were identified on the island, from introduced rats to Tasmanian masked owls. However, only the elimination of the pigs would have saved the species from extinction, and identifying the cause and solution in a timely manner was crucial to the success of the programme. Following success with the woodhen, there have been recovery efforts for other endemic species on Lord Howe Island, including the Lord Howe flax snail (Placostylus bivaricosus) and the Lord Howe currawong (Strepera graculina crissalis). Gilbert rail A rail, known only from a single specimen in the form of an alcohol-preserved skin at Harvard, was originally believed to have been collected on one of the Gilbert Islands and named as the Gilbert rail, Gallirallus conditicius (Peters & Griscom, 1928). However, the island attributed to this holotype is low, rocky and sandy, and has no habitat suitable for a rail. It now appears that a curatorial error led to the specimen being labeled to the wrong collection, and the specimen is actually an immature female Lord Howe woodhen. It differs from that species only in a paler crown, throat and underparts, and browner head, but long immersion in alcohol could have changed the colour. The island to which the specimen was originally attributed is 4,500 km from Lord Howe Island, and it appears improbable that two flightless rails could evolve separately with no morphological differences. References External links Image of an egg of a Lord Howe woodhen (Australian Museum website) Hypotaenidia Birds of Lord Howe Island Endangered fauna of Australia Birds described in 1869 Flightless birds Taxa named by Philip Sclater