| Dot-winged crake | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Laterallus |
| Species: | L. spiloptera |
| Binomial name | |
| Laterallus spiloptera (Durnford, 1877) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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The dot-winged crake (Laterallus spiloptera) is a vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. [2] [3] [1] It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. [4]
The dot-winged crake was originally described in genus Porzana . However, phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA by Garcia et al. (2014) placed it in the predominantly South American clade Laterallus . [5] Stervander et al. (2019) demonstrated that it is the sister species of the world's smallest flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island rail Laterallus rogersi (previously placed in the monotypic genus Atlantisia) and should bear the binomial Laterallus spilopterus, [6] which was supported by Kirchman et al. (2021). [7]
As of late 2022, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) calls the dot-winged crake Laterallus spiloptera, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World calls it Laterallus spilopterus, and the Clements taxonomy and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) call it Porzana spiloptera. [2] [3] [8] [9]
The worldwide taxonomic systems agree that the species is monotypic. [2] [3] [8]
The dot-winged crake is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long. The sexes are alike. Their upperparts are dark olive brown with blackish streaks and some white markings on the flight feathers. Their face and breast are dark gray and their vent area and undertail coverts are barred black and white. [10]
The dot-winged crake's distribution is unsettled. The IOC and Clements place it in southern Uruguay and northern Argentina. [2] [8] The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World adds Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, and the SACC adds Chile to those three countries. [10] [4] Cornell's eBird has records in all four countries. [11]
The dot-winged crake inhabits freshwater and brackish waters and some drier landscapes as well. It is found in freshwater and tidal marshes, swamps, wet meadows, grasslands, and riparian scrub. [10]
No movements are known for the dot-winged crake. [10]
The dot-winged crake feeds on insects, seeds, and marsh vegetation. Its foraging technique has not been documented. [10]
A dot-winged crake nest was discovered near Buenos Aires but no details of it or any other aspects of the species' breeding biology are known. [10]
The dot-winged crake's song is " a high note followed by a lower-pitched rattle 'kee-krrrrr'" that is repeated several times. Its calls include "a mellow soft 'pwup' and a scolding rattle." [10]
The IUCN originally assessed the dot-winged crake as Threatened and since 1994 as Vulnerable. Its range is small and fragmented, and its estimated population of 2500 to 10,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Conversion of wetlands to agriculture, especially grazing with accompanying burning, appears to be the main threat. Other wetlands have been flooded. [1] It occurs in a few protected areas but "[d]istributional surveys [are] urgently needed within [the] species' limited range". [10]
Rails are a large, cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinule; other rail species are extremely rare or endangered. Many are associated with wetland habitats, some being semi-aquatic like waterfowl, but many more are wading birds or shorebirds. The ideal rail habitats are marsh areas, including rice paddies, and flooded fields or open forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation for nesting. The rail family is found in every terrestrial habitat with the exception of dry desert, polar or freezing regions, and alpine areas. Members of Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous unique island species are known.
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 formally described by physician Percy Lowe in 1923 but had first come to the attention of scientists 50 years earlier. The Inaccessible Island rail's taxonomic 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 decided that both species are best classified in the genus Laterallus.
Porzana is a genus of birds in the crake and rail family, Rallidae. Its scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake is the type species.
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 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 chestnut-headed crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Anurolimnas is a genus of birds that the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy apply to the chestnut-headed crake, the russet-crowned crake, and the black-banded crake. The International Ornithological Committee assigns the first two species to genus Rufirallus and the black-banded to genus Laterallus. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World also places the first two in Rufirallus but assigns the black-banded to genus Porzana.
The black-banded crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The russet-crowned crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, the Guianas, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.
The red-winged wood rail is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
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 grey-breasted crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The rusty-flanked crake is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to 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 rufous-faced crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The Colombian crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.
The paint-billed crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay, and the Galápagos Islands.
The ash-throated crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile.
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.
Zapornia is a recently revalidated genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae; it was included in Porzana for much of the late 20th century. These smallish to tiny rails are found across most of the world, but are entirely absent from the Americas except as wind-blown stray birds. A number of species, and probably an even larger number of prehistorically extinct ones, are known only from small Pacific islands; several of these lost the ability to fly in the absence of terrestrial predators. They are somewhat less aquatic than Porzana proper, inhabiting the edges of wetlands, reedbelts, but also drier grass- and shrubland and in some cases open forest.
