| Ruddy crake | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Laterallus |
| Species: | L. ruber |
| Binomial name | |
| Laterallus ruber (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1860) | |
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The ruddy crake (Laterallus ruber) is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae. Other names the ruddy crake is known by are "red rail", "ruddy rail" and "red crake". [2]
The ruddy crake can be identified by its ruddy plumage that can vary in shade and gray head with dark brown wings and tail. [3] It is mostly bright chestnut in colour with a paler chin and belly, blackish crown and dark grey ear-coverts. [4] Ruddy crakes are about the size of a sparrow. [3] It is a small crake, 14–16.5 cm in length. [4] Immature ruddy crakes tend to show discoloration on their midline or nape, such as a pale midline or chestnut colored nape. [3] The bill is black, the iris is red and the legs and feet are olive-green. [4] This distinct characteristic of yellow green legs, differentiating it from other small birds. [5] The ruddy crake has a short black conical bill, and it has wide spread feet specifically adapted for wet habitats. Female ruddy crakes are more drab than males, and the males have rusty red plumage on the breast. [6]
The ruddy crake, similar to others in the Rallidae family, prefers wet pastures and marshes, especially the tall grasses. [5] The ruddy crake populates the lowlands of the Caribbean, including areas of the Veracruz east, Yucatan Peninsula, and Honduras. [3] The bird occurs from Mexico south to north-west Costa Rica. It is found in freshwater habitats such as marshes, reedbeds, damp fields and ditches. [4]
In the 1960s and 1970s, the ruddy crake was regarded as the most abundant crake in its range in Mexico, while it is considered rare in Costa Rica. Based on range maps, the breeding distribution is 655,600 kilometers squared. [4] The ruddy crake was listed as possibly extinct by the Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica because there were no sightings for two decades. However, in May of 2007 a ruddy crake was viewed near the trail by the La Selva Biological Research Station, indicating a widespread range. [5]
The ruddy crake eats invertebrates and plants near the surface of water, including decaying plants, water snails, water beetles, mosquito larvae, and mayflies in the wetland habitat. [6]
In crake reproduction, they lay 6-12 eggs in a nest near the water made from plants. The male and female take turns sitting on the eggs for three weeks, and the eggs will hatch over a week-long period. The male will care for the chicks while the female sits on the younger eggs. Once all eggs hatch, both parents feed and guard the chicks. Often, the chicks will be split up between the two parents. [6]
Deforestation and habitat degradation has caused decreases in the population of ruddy crakes, but land preservation by governments and other conservation groups have benefited the species. [6] The Partners in Flight organization estimated the population of the ruddy crakes to be made up of less than 50,000 individuals. The overall population trend, however, is unable to be determined, as the volume of threats and level of threats that the species faces is uncertain. [7]
The conservation status of the ruddy crake is currently at the level of "Least Concern". [2]
The old Latin name for the ruddy crake was "Corethrura rubra". [2]
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 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 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-breasted crake, or ruddy crake, is a waterbird in the rail and crake family Rallidae.
The black rail is a mouse-sized member of the rail family Rallidae that occurs in both North and South America.
The Laysan rail or Laysan crake was a flightless bird endemic to the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, including the rail. It became extinct due to habitat loss by domestic rabbits, and ultimately World War II.
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.
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.
Flufftails are small birds related to rails and finfoots. There are nine species, seven of which are distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, with the remaining two in Madagascar. The genus was long placed with the rail family Rallidae, but is now placed in the family Sarothruridae, along with three other species of wood rails.
The African crake is a small- to medium-size ground-living bird in the rail family, found in most of central to southern Africa. It is seasonally common in most of its range other than the rainforests and areas that have low annual rainfall. This crake is a partial migrant, moving away from the equator as soon as the rains provide sufficient grass cover to allow it to breed elsewhere. There have been a few records of vagrant birds reaching Atlantic islands. This species nests in a wide variety of grassland types, and agricultural land with tall crops may also be used.
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 grey-cowled wood rail or grey-necked wood rail is a species of bird in the family Rallidae, the rails. It lives primarily in the forests, mangroves, and swamps of Central and South America. Of the two subspecies, A. c. avicenniae is found in southeastern Brazil, while the nominate is found throughout the portion of the range not occupied by the other subspecies. The species as a whole is usually found at elevations from sea level to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), although some have been found above that. This bird's large extent of occurrence along with its population is why it is considered to be least-concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In some places, it is occasionally hunted and kept for food.
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 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.
