| Black rail | |
|---|---|
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| Black rail in Maranhão, Brazil | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Laterallus |
| Species: | L. jamaicensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Laterallus jamaicensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
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Breeding Year-round Non-breeding | |
The black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is a mouse-sized member of the rail family Rallidae that occurs in both North and South America.
The black rail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with all the rails in the genus Rallus and coined the binomial name Rallus jamaicensis. [2] Gmelin based his description on the "Least water hen" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his Gleanings of Natural History. [3] Edwards had obtained a preserved specimen that had been brought to London from Jamaica by Patrick Browne. Browne had briefly mentioned the rail in his book "The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica". [4] The black rail is now placed with 12 other small rails and crakes in the genus Laterallus that was introduced in 1855 by George Robert Gray. [5] [6] The genus name is a portmanteau of Rallus lateralis, a synonym of the binomial name for the rufous-sided crake, the type species of the genus. The specific epithet jamaicensis is from "Jamaica", the type locality. [7]
There are five recognized subspecies: [6]
Their taxonomy is in need of a review. Especially the Junin rail has a distinctive plumage and is often considered a separate species (rather than a subspecies of the black rail), but its voice, while showing some differences, generally resembles that of the two other South American subspecies, L. j. murivagans and L. j. salinasi. [11] [12] However, their voices are quite distinct from the voices of black rails of North America. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the Galapagos crake, another member of the black rail species complex, has a voice that resembles that of the South American black rails. [11] Genetic data is lacking for most members of the complex, except the Galapagos crake which diverged from the North American black rail about 1.2 million years ago. [13]
The black rail is a small black bird with a short bill. Black rails usually weigh 29-39 g, are 10-15 cm in length, and have a wingspan of 8.7-11.0 in (22-28 cm). [14] The body is dark, with white speckles along the back and wings. Both the beak and legs are dark. Adults have a red eye that appears around 3 months of age. [8]
It will often make its presence known by its voice. In North America, it has a distinctive ki-ki-krr call or an aggressive, presumably territorial, growl. This is primarily uttered during the night, when these birds are most vocal. [15] The peak of vocalization is during the first two weeks of May, when breeding and courtship behaviors are also at their peak. [16] The South American subspecies have a quite different voice. [11]
It is found in scattered parts of North America, the Caribbean, and South America, usually in coastal salt marshes but also in some freshwater marshes. The most suitable habitat to find the Black Rail is within the high marshes The high marsh provides an ideal environment for the Black Rail, as it spends most of its time concealed within the vegetation found in this area. The bird's unique habitat choice is primarily driven by its foraging habits. While the Black Rail stays in the drier areas of the marsh, it strategically selects locations adjacent to the low marsh regions that experience occasional inundation during spring tides. These wetter parts of the marsh serve as essential foraging grounds where the Black Rail can find mud-dwelling invertebrates. The dry areas provide safe spaces for nesting by protecting their nests from flooding during high tide. The high marsh habitat is characterized by large stretches of grasses interspersed with patches of open salt panne. The salt panne is typically dry for the majority of the year but experiences periodic flooding during extreme spring tides. In the Florida Gulf Coast marshes, one of the most common grass species in the high marsh is the marsh-hay cordgrass, which is favored by the Black Rail. [17] It is extinct or threatened in many locations due to habitat loss. The largest populations in North America are in Florida and California.
The black rail is rarely seen and prefers running in the cover of the dense marsh vegetation to flying.
This rail is territorial during the breeding season, and occasionally males will mate with two or more females. [15] The nests of this bird are placed on the ground, in dense, swampy vegetation or in patches of flooded grass. The nests are bowl-shaped and built with vegetation loosely woven. [15]
The clutch of this bird usually consists of six to eight creamy white speckled, with reddish-brown spots, eggs. These eggs are roundish and measure around 23 by 17 millimetres (0.91 by 0.67 in). They are incubated by both parents, taking shifts of approximately one hour each, for 16 to 20 days. The precocial young then hatch.
In 2015, the first ever breeding by black rails in South Carolina was captured through a camera study. This species was once thought to be a non-breeding visitor to the state. [18]
The black rail is an opportunistic feeder and consumes a wide range of food. Its diet includes seeds, insects, crustaceans and mollusks. The black rail forages by feeding along the water lines after high and low tide. [16]
Under the IUCN Red List, the black rail is listed as endangered with decreasing populations. The IUCN estimates there are between 28,000 and 92,000 mature individuals remaining. The largest threats to the Black Rail are habitat destruction and severe weather events. [19]
The wetland habitat that the black rail depends on has steadily declined through the last several decades, due to draining for development and conversion to agricultural land. [9]
In addition to declining populations and increasing threats, the black rail is also impacted by the lack of scientific studies available. Because of the secretive and hard to observe nature of the bird, there is very little known about them to help prevent population decline.
They are preyed upon by many avian (hawks, egrets, and herons) and mammalian (foxes and cats) predators, and rely on the cover of thick marsh vegetation for protection. High tides are a dangerous time for black rails, as they are quite vulnerable to predation outside the marsh.
The Virginia rail is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae. These birds remain fairly common despite continuing loss of habitat, but are secretive by nature and more often heard than seen. They are also considered a game species in some provinces and states, though rarely hunted. The Ecuadorian rail is often considered a subspecies, but some taxonomic authorities consider it distinct.
The water rail is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is 23–28 cm (9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies R. indicus, has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail.
The Inaccessible Island rail is a small bird of the rail family, Rallidae. Endemic to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, it is the smallest extant flightless bird in the world. The species was described by physician Percy Lowe in 1923 but had first come to the attention of scientists 50 years earlier. The Inaccessible Island rail's affinities and origin were a long-standing mystery; in 2018 its closest relative was identified as the South American dot-winged crake, and it was proposed that both species should be nested within the genus Laterallus.
The yellow rail is a small secretive marsh bird of the family Rallidae that is found in North America.
The watercock is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus Gallicrex.
The ruddy crake is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae. Other names the ruddy crake is known by are "red rail", "ruddy rail" and "red crake".
The Galapagos crake, also called the Galapagos rail and Darwin's rail, is a vulnerable species of rail in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It resembles its sister species, the black rail of the Americas, from which it diverged 1.2 million years ago.
The African rail is a small wetland bird of the rail family that is found in eastern and southern Africa.
Laterallus is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. These small, relatively short-billed terrestrial rails are found among dense vegetation near water in the Neotropics, although a single species, the black rail, also occurs in the United States.
The black crake is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae. It breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in very arid areas. It undertakes some seasonal movements in those parts of its range which are subject to drought. No subspecies have been described. It appears that the oldest available name for this species is actually Rallus niger J. F. Gmelin, 1788, but Swainson believed that the earlier name was unidentifiable, and his own has since become well embedded in the literature.
The uniform crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Mexico, most of Central America, and in nine South American countries.
The white-throated crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
The rufous-sided crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile.
The Junin crake or Junin rail is an elusive and rare bird in the family Rallidae found only in marshy habitats around Lake Junin in the Andean highlands of west-central Peru.
The ocellated crake is a small terrestrial species of bird in the family Rallidae and is native to the grassland and savanna habitats of Central America and South America. Though it is not often seen, it is easily recognizable by its cinnamon plumage with black and white mottling.
The yellow-breasted crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found on several Caribbean islands and in most of Central America and South America.
The dot-winged crake is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
The spotless crake is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is widely distributed species occurring from the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia, across the southern Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands and south to New Zealand.
The Bogotá rail is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to Colombia. The bird is a typical medium-sized rail with a plump body that is laterally compressed, a short tail and an elongated bill.
The mangrove rail is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Central and South America.
