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
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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Fairly large songbird with round body, long legs, and longish tail. Gray above with warm orange underparts and blackish head. Hops across lawns and stands erect with its bill often tilted upward. In fall and winter, forms large flocks and gathers in trees to roost or eat berries. Common across North America in gardens, parks, yards, golf courses, fields, pastures, and many other wooded habitats.
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