[3] The species lives in sub-tropical forests, feeding on earthworms, crustaceans, fruit, and occasionally taking the eggs of shearwaters and petrels.

Being flightless, curious, and having never been hunted, they became a readily available source of food for visiting sailors and the island's early human population.

The elimination of the pigs and other disruptive animals (goats), plus a programme of ex-situ conservation (captive breeding) which commenced in May 1980 (the first egg was laid in June 1980), allowed the Lord Howe woodhen to recover its numbers.

The captive breeding program was funded with $150,000 from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, which was spent to construct the compound and to employ scientists involved in this project.

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.

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.