Galapagos crake

Galápagos crake
Conservation status
	; Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Rallidae
Genus:	Laterallus
Species:	L. spilonota
Binomial name
	Laterallus spilonota; (Gould, 1841)
Synonyms
	Laterallus spilonotus;

Last updated December 18, 2022

The Galapagos crake (Laterallus spilonota), 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.^[2]^[3]^[1] It resembles its sister species, the black rail of the Americas, from which it diverged 1.2 million years ago.^[4]

Taxonomy and systematics

The Galapagos crake was originally described as Zapornia spilonota and has been moved among at least five other scientific names before its current binomial was adopted. At least one author classified it as a subspecies of black rail, and others consider the black rail and Galapagos crake to form a superspecies.^[5]

The Galapagos crake is monotypic.^[2]

Description

The Galapagos crake is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs about 35 to 45 g (1.2 to 1.6 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a dark gray crown and medium gray head and underparts. Their flanks and thighs have sparse narrow whitish bars. Their interscapulars, scapulars, and upper back are chestnut brown and the lower back, rump, uppertail coverts, and tail are dark brown. Their upper wing coverts also are brown, and may have fine white spots, and their flight feathers are light brown. Their iris is a distinctive red, and the bill, tarsi, and toes are dark brown. Juveniles have a mostly dark brown body with a lighter brown upper back; black lower back, rump, and tail; and slightly grayish face and throat. Their wings are an almost-black brown.^[5]

Distribution and habitat

The Galapagos crake is found on the Galápagos islands of Pinta, Fernandina, Isabela, Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, and Floreana, though the populations on the last two islands might be extinct.^[5]^[1] It inhabits humid highlands on those islands in areas with dense fern, shrub, and forb cover.^[5]

Behavior

Movement

The Galapagos crake is a year-round resident. It can fly and swim, though it does not fly well nor for long distances. Its flight has been described as awkward and labored. It tends to run rather than fly to escape danger.^[5]^[6]

Feeding

The Galapagos crake forages during the day, moving along the ground in dense growth tossing leaves and investigating the leaf litter. Its primary prey is insects of many types and its diet includes other arthropods, snails, and berries and seeds.^[5]^[6]

Breeding

The Galapagos crake's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to span from September to April. It is aggressively territorial; it stamps its feet and raises its tail as a threat and may run towards other rails that encroach on its territory. Pairs are monogamous during the breeding season but it is not known if the bond lasts year-round. The species makes its nest on the ground; it is a partially covered cup made of herbaceous plant matter with a side entrance. The clutch size is three to six eggs. The incubation period is 23 to 25 days and both parents incubate. Chicks take about 80 to 85 days from hatch to reach adulthood.^[5]^[6]

Songs and calls

Listen to Galapagos crake on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The Galapagos crake gives at least five vocalizations, "cheeping, a chichichichiroo call, a chirr call, a chatter call, and a rattle call". They variously are used for members of a family to maintain contact, to advertise territory, and to intimidate predators.^[5]^[6]

Status

The IUCN originally assessed the Galapagos crake as Near Threatened but since 2000 has classified it as Vulnerable. It has a very limited range and its estimated population of between 3300 and 6700 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Destruction of habitat by cattle, goats, and pigs is a major cause of population decline; when they were removed from Santiago Island the crake population rebounded. Climate change and its associated severe weather events may affect the crake's habitat. Feral rats, cats, and dogs, and native short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) are potential threats as well.^[1]^[5]

Related Research Articles

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous island species are known. The most common rail habitats are marshland and dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation.

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 ruddy crake is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae. Other names the Ruddy Crake is known by are “Red Rail”, “Rudy Rail” and “Red Crake”.

The black rail is a mouse-sized member of the rail family Rallidae that occurs in both North and South America.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut-headed crake</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-banded crake</span> Species of bird

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 rufous-necked wood rail is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Mexico, Central America, seven mainland South American countries, and Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-winged wood rail</span> Species of bird

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 little wood rail is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is endemic to Brazil.

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 red-and-white crake is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, 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 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 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.

References

1 2 3 4 BirdLife International (2020). "Laterallus spilonota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22692366A181476400. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22692366A181476400.en . Retrieved 28 November 2022.
1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved 7 August 2022
↑ Chaves, Jaime A.; Martinez-Torres, Pedro J.; Depino, Emiliano A.; Espinoza-Ulloa, Sebastian; García-Loor, Jefferson; Beichman, Annabel C.; Stervander, Martin (12 November 2020). "Evolutionary History of the Galápagos Rail Revealed by Ancient Mitogenomes and Modern Samples". Diversity. 12 (11): 425. doi: 10.3390/d12110425 . ISSN 1424-2818.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hill, E. (2020). Galapagos Rail (Laterallus spilonota), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.galrai1.01 retrieved 28 November 2022
1 2 3 4 Franklin, A. B.; Clark, D. A.; Clark, D. B. (1979). "Ecology and behavior of the Galapagos Rail". The Wilson Bulletin. 91 (2): 202–221. JSTOR 4161201.