The slaty-breasted wood rail (''Aramides saracura'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family

Rallidae Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

.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 August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The slaty-breasted wood rail is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The slaty-breasted wood rail is long; one male weighed . The sexes are alike. Adults have a green bill with a bluish base, a red eye, and reddish- to yellowish brown legs and feet. Most of their head and their throat, breast, and belly are slate gray. Their nape and shoulders are chestnut, their back olive, and their tail black. Immatures and juveniles have not been described.Taylor, B. and A. Bonan (2020). Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail (''Aramides saracura''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sbwrai1.01 retrieved October 15, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The slaty-breasted wood rail is found in southeastern Brazil from southern

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

and

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

south and west into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. It generally inhabits somewhat wet forest and woodland, often in swampy areas or along streams, but usually avoids open marshes.

Behavior

Movement

The slaty-breasted wood rail appears to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

Usually feeds earthworms, beetle larvae and other small insects.

Breeding

The slaty-breasted wood rail's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to include at least November to February. One nest is known; it was in a thick bush and held four or five eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.

Vocalization

The slaty-breasted rail mostly calls during the day. It makes a " riety of loud, resounding, noisy cries, including 'po-quit kwaa kwaa kwaa', 'po-peek' and 'po-pereek'", often for many minutes and usually in a duet. Another vocalization is "an irritated, rapidly repeated series of 'quir' notes".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the slaty-breasted wood rail as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. Its status in most of its range is uncertain. "Because of this, and because nothing is known of its natural history, hespecies should probably be classified as a Data Deficient species."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273156 slaty-breasted wood rail Birds of the Atlantic Forest slaty-breasted wood rail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot