Tahiti rail plantations. Its diet appears to have consisted mainly of insects and occasionally copra (coconut meat). The extinction of the Tahiti rail was probably due to predation by humans and introduced cats and rats. It appears to have become extinct some time after 1844 on Tahiti, and perhaps as late as the 1930s on Mehetia. The Tahiti rail was found on the South Pacific island of Tahiti (part of the Society Islands archipelago) by naturalists who were part of the British explorer James Cook's second voyage around the world (1772–1775). The bird was illustrated by Georg Forster, who accompanied his father,
RMS Tahiti at at 4:30 a.m. on 15 August 1930 when her starboard propeller shaft broke, opening a large hole in her stern and causing rapid flooding. Her crew sent out a distress call via wireless, began launching distress signal rockets, prepared the passengers for the possibility of abandoning ship, and fought the flooding in an effort to save the ship. At 10:10 p.m. on 16 August, the Norwegian steamer arrived on the scene to render assistance. "Penybryn" stood by "Tahiti" throughout the night of 16–17 August with her floodlights illuminating "Tahiti" and her boats ready to go to the assistance of