It is resident in marshes and along streams within or at the edge of moist forest, and occasionally mangroves, favouring dense vegetation including tangled thickets of rattan and pandanus. Breeding may be related to rainfall and humidity, and negatively correlated with temperature (Ezhilarasi and Vijayan 2013).

Rallina canningi is endemic to the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, India, where there are records from several islands in the Andamans (see Pande et al. 2007, eBird 2017), although it may be rare on smaller islands (P. Davidar in litt. 2016). Formerly considered very common based on high trapping rates, there were very few recent records until survey work in 2004 found it to be fairly common in suitable habitat (Ezhilarasi and Vijayan 2008). However, there have been low encounter rates during surveys, though this could be due to difficulties in locating the species, and it may be locally common in its preferred habitat (P. Davidar in litt. 2016).

Conservation Actions Underway
It is known from several Protected Areas. The Department of Environment and Forests, Andaman & Nicobar Islands has initiated steps to conserve the endemic and threatened bird species of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Zoological Survey of India is monitoring the bird population of this archipelago (C. Sivaperuman in litt. 2016).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Conduct surveys throughout its range to determine its current population size. Assess the extent and impact of habitat loss on populations. Quantify the impact of trapping on populations. Try to stop trapping if appropriate. Protect large areas of suitable habitat at key sites, in both strictly protected areas and community-led multiple use areas.