The Black-tailed Nativehen, (Gallinula ventralis), is a rail

Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...

 native to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Description

The Black-tailed Nativehen is a large dark bird, reaching about 38 cm in length and weighing around 400g

Gram

The gram is a metric system unit of mass....

 which is close to the weight of a soccer ball. This species possesses an erect tail and is endowed almost entirely in brownish-grey and green feathers. Its long legs and lower jaw are a striking pink-orange colour, as well as its eyes which are more of a bright orange colour. This species is not excessively vocal, its main call is an alarm 'kak' sound.

Habitat

This species is nomadic, following seasonal water sources. It is found year round living near fresh and brackish water.

Distribution

The Black-tailed Nativehen is common throughout Australia, where it lives by permanent as well as intermittent water sources. It has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It is classified as Least Concern

Least Concern

Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...

 by IUCN. It is a rare vagrant to New Zealand.

Reproduction

Breeding generally takes place between August and December or when conditions are favourable. A cup-shaped nest is built in vegetation near water or swampland. 5-7 pale green eggs are laid and incubated for approximately 20 days.

Diet

This species' diet consists of insects, plant material and seeds. In farming areas, the Black-tailed Native-hen is capable of causing crop damage.