Ecuadorian Rail
Rallus aequatorialis
Medium-sized, brightly colored rail. Overall orange with red bill and legs, gray cheek, and black stripes on back. Found locally in freshwater marshes in the high Andes of Ecuador and southernmost Colombia, as well as a few very rare populations near the coast in Peru. No similar species in range. Shy and not often seen, but sometimes wanders along the edge of reeds. Most easily detected by voice; most common call is a wheezy, descending and accelerating series of grunts.
Identification
The Ecuadorian rail is 20 to 21 cm (7.9 to 8.3 in) long and weighs about 85 g (3.0 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a long, slightly decurved, bill that is reddish brown with a bright orange base. Their legs are dull orange. They have brown upperparts with blackish streaking and much rufous on the wing coverts. Their face and the sides of the neck are bluish gray and their throat white. Their underparts are dull cinnamon-buff with black and white barring on the flanks.
Taxonomy
The IOC treats the Ecuadorian rail as a separate species with two subspecies, the nominate R. a. aequatorialis and R. a. meyerdeschauenseei. They base this treatment on Ridgely & Greenfield (2001). However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treat those two taxa as subspecies of the Virginia rail.<p>This article follows the IOC model.
- Scientific name
- Rallus aequatorialis
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1894
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Rallus
Range and habitat
The Ecuadorian rail is found in the Andes from extreme southern Colombia to southern Ecuador and coastally in Peru between the departments of La Libertad and Arequipa. It inhabits marshes and wet grasslands at elevations up to about 2,400 m (7,900 ft).
Behavior
The Ecuadorian rail is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Ecuadorian rail mostly forages in vegetation but sometimes ventures slightly into more open areas early in the morning. Its diet has not been determined separately from that of the Virginia rail sensu lato. That species has an eclectic diet that includes adult and larval aquatic invertebrates of many kinds, amphibians, and plant material.<p>Details of the Ecuadorian rail's breeding biology are not known.<p>As of late 2022, xeno-canto had no recordings of Ecuadorian rail vocalizations and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had 10. Its calls are described as "a descending series of squeals and grunts" with a higher pitch than those of the Virginia rail.
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-headed Tailorbird
Phyllergates heterolaemus
A small, long-billed, long-tailed bird of montane forest and scrub on Mindanao, with an olive back, wings, and tail, a yellow belly, a rufous head, and a pale buff throat and chest. Often cocks its tail. Juvenile has an olive rather than rufous head. Similar in shape and habits to other tailorbirds on Mindanao, but occurs at higher elevations, and has a yellow belly and rufous head. Song consists of very short, well spaced, varied phrases of fairly long, high-pitched piping notes.
Ancient Antwren
Herpsilochmus gentryi
This antwren is known only from a small area in northeastern Peru and adjacent border areas of Ecuador. It is confined to rainforest that grows in nutrient-poor soils with a specific mineral composition. Note the yellowish underparts, black crown and black eye-stripe separated by a pale eyebrow, and bold white wingbars and tail edges. Similar to Dugand’s Antwren, but male has yellowish underparts and female has a black (not brown) crown. Stays quite high in the trees and often joins mixed-species flocks. Song is decelerating series of notes that rises and then falls.
Greater Melampitta
Megalampitta gigantea
A large, rare, ground bird from scattered areas of foothill and lower montane limestone forest. All black plumage with long legs, strong bill, long tail and some bare facial behind the eye. Juvenile has a brown belly. Very secretive and keeps to dense cover. The only large, black, terrestrial bird. More often heard than seen. Voice, a loud, repetitive “choo-oowit!”.
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