Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail
Aramides saracura
Noisy and occasionally conspicuous inhabitant of marshy areas in and around forests. Gleaming red eye and legs. Gray below with a rufous upper-back, a gray neck and head, and a long green bill. Voice is a very loud fluted “kua-kua-kua.”
Identification
The slaty-breasted wood rail is 34 to 37 cm (13 to 15 in) long; one male weighed 540 g (19 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a green bill with a bluish base, a red eye, and reddish- to yellowish brown legs and feet. Most of their head and their throat, breast, and belly are slate gray. Their nape and shoulders are chestnut, their back olive, and their tail black. Immatures and juveniles have not been described.
Taxonomy
The slaty-breasted wood rail is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Aramides saracura
- Authority
- (Spix, 1825)
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Aramides
Range and habitat
The slaty-breasted wood rail is found in southeastern Brazil from southern Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo south and west into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. It generally inhabits somewhat wet forest and woodland, often in swampy areas or along streams, but usually avoids open marshes.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The slaty-breasted wood rail appears to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Usually feeds earthworms, beetle larvae and other small insects.<p>The slaty-breasted wood rail's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to include at least November to February. One nest is known; it was in a thick bush and held four or five eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.<p>The slaty-breasted rail mostly calls during the day. It makes a "[v]ariety of loud, resounding, noisy cries, including 'po-quit kwaa kwaa kwaa', 'po-peek' and 'po-pereek'", often for many minutes and usually in a duet. Another vocalization is "an irritated, rapidly repeated series of 'quir' notes".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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