The Tahiti crake, also known as Miller's rail, is an extinct species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to Tahiti. It was discovered and painted by Georg Forster during the second Cook voyage. John Frederick Miller copied Forster's painting and published it with some changes in his work Icones animalium et plantarum in 1784. Miller coined the binomial name Rallus nigra. It probably went extinct in about 1800 from introduced predators.
Region
Society Islands, South Pacific
Typical Environment
Endemic to Tahiti, where it likely occupied dense lowland vegetation near wetlands, streams, and coastal thickets. It probably favored swampy forest edges, reedbeds, and tangled undergrowth that offered cover from predators. Human-altered areas with dense ground cover may also have been used. As with many small rails, it likely nested and foraged close to water but within thick vegetation.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called Miller's rail, the Tahiti crake is known only from an 18th-century painting and brief voyage notes, and no specimens are known to survive. It was endemic to Tahiti and is believed to have disappeared around 1800, likely due to introduced predators such as rats, cats, and pigs. Like many island rails, it was probably reluctant to fly and kept to dense cover.
Illustration by John Frederick Miller
Temperament
secretive and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats; reluctant flier
Social Behavior
Likely paired during the breeding season and maintained small territories in dense cover. Ground-nesting in thick vegetation near water is probable, with both parents sharing incubation and chick care as typical of rails. Outside breeding, it may have remained solitary or in small family groups.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Presumed to have given sharp squeaks, grunts, or repetitive ticking notes typical of small rails. Calls would carry through dense vegetation but remain unobtrusive.
Plumage
Reported as largely uniform dark plumage, likely smooth and glossy rather than barred, with minimal patterning.
Diet
Likely fed on small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, and small crustaceans. It probably supplemented this with seeds, fallen fruit, and other plant matter. Foraging behavior likely involved probing and gleaning in leaf litter and at the edges of shallow water.
Preferred Environment
Dense ground cover along marshes, streams, and wet forest edges. It would have foraged under shrubs, among reeds, and in tangled root mats where concealment is good.
