Gray-breasted Crake
Laterallus exilis
Very small and elusive crake of damp grassy fields, brushy pastures, and marshes. Walks quietly and runs quickly, like all rails. Note the lime-green bill base and red eyes set off by a grayish face. Told from similar Black Rail by yellowish legs and unspotted upperparts. Heard much more often than seen; distinctive piping song easily passed over as a frog. Trilling call is drier than similar call of Ruddy Crake.
Identification
The grey-breasted crake is 14 to 15.5 cm (5.5 to 6.1 in) long. Males weigh 26.5 to 39 g (0.93 to 1.4 oz) and females 29 to 43 g (1.0 to 1.5 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a pale gray head and breast, a white throat, and a chesnut nape. The rest of their upperparts are olive brown and their flanks are heavily barred black and white.
Taxonomy
The grey-breasted crake is monotypic, though the population along the Honduras-Nicaragua border was once proposed as a subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Laterallus exilis
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1831)
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Laterallus
Range and habitat
The grey-breasted crake has several discreet ranges. One is from Belize and eastern Guatemala through Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama into Colombia and western Venezuela. Another is in central Venezuela and a third extends through the Guianas into Brazil. The largest encompasses most of Amazonian Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia and extends south through Paraguay into northeastern Argentina. It is also found in northwestern Ecuador, in several enclaves along coastal southeastern Brazil, and on Trinidad.<p>The grey-breasted crake inhabits a variety of landscapes. Most have shallow standing water, such as the edges of marshes, rivers, and lakes and also wet meadows and rice fields. It also occurs in dry sites like pastures and airfields.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The grey-breasted crake is thought to be sedentary, but some local movements are suspected.<p>The grey-breasted crake's foraging technique has not been described. Its diet is mostly insects of several orders and also includes spiders, worms, and seeds.<p>The grey-breasted crake's breeding seasons are not well defined but appear to vary geographically. It makes a sperical nest of woven grass and weed stems with a side entrance. The typical clutch size is three eggs.<p>The grey-breasted crake has several vocalizations including "a series of 2–10 'tink' or 'keek' notes; also [a] descending musical rattle and [a] quiet, sharp 'check'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Small green parakeet with a yellow wash in the face and a gray bill. Found at high elevations in intermontane valleys, around semi-humid scrub and forest. Compared to the similar Mountain Parakeet, Andean has a shorter tail, a gray bill (not pale pink), and very little blue on the wing. Its calls are given in rapid series, sounding like a chuckled “juh-juh-juh.”
Himalayan Cuckoo
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Yellow-eared Honeyeater
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A small green songbird with a decurved bill, a striking yellow ear patch, a white moustache line, and extensively streaked yellow underparts. Juveniles less well marked below, lacking the yellow ear patch. Singles, pairs, or small groups inhabit forest and forest edge, mainly in foothills, less abundant in lowlands. Differs from Streak-breasted Honeyeater in yellow background coloration to underparts, thin moustachial line, and lack of a white throat. Song includes a variety of melodious, bubbling notes with an oriole-like quality. Call is a short, buzzing “zirt,” repeated frequently.
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