- Where to see one
- 4 U.S. zoos in our directory hold guam rail, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the guam rail
The Guam rail, known locally as ko'ko', is a small, terrestrial bird endemic to Guam. It is mostly brown with barred black-and-white underparts and a grey stripe above the eye. It grows to about 11 inches (28 cm) and weighs around 200 to 350 grams. Its wing muscles are underdeveloped, so it is considered flightless, though it can flutter a few meters. It relies on strong legs to run fast and is secretive. It eats snails, insects, geckos, seeds and plants, and giant African snails became a large part of its diet. Invasive brown tree snakes caused its numbers to collapse, and it became extinct in the wild in the early 1980s, so it has since been bred in captivity and released on Rota and Cocos Island.
Guam Rail facts
- In 2019 it became the second bird species to move from Extinct in the Wild to Critically Endangered.
- It can fly only about 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 meters) at a time.
- Pieces of snail shell and coral found in its stomachs suggest the birds use them as grit.
- A louse unique to the species is considered most likely extinct, after captive rails were deloused.
Where to see guam rail in the U.S.
4 zoos across 4 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 4 zoos holding guam rail by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
