- Laterallus jamaicensis
Includes: Junin Rail
Identification
10cm
- Black head and breast
- Rusty nape
- Dark back and wing coverts with small white spots
- Dark flanks barred black and white
- Short dark bill
Sexes similar
Distribution
Poorly known, perhaps more numerous than they seem. Currently thought to be very local from U.S. to central Argentina and Chile.
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
Ranges are disjunct.
- L. j. coturniculus - Coastal central California south to northern Baja California
- L. j. jamaicensis - Eastern US to Belize and Cuba; winters to Central America and West Indies
- L. j. murivagans - Arid littoral of Peru
- L. j. salinasi - Central Chile (Atacama to Malleco) and extreme west Argentina
- L. j. tuerosi - Andes of central Peru (Lake Junin)
tuerosi is sometimes accepted as full species, Junin Rail.
Habitat
Coastal salt marshes and some freshwater marshes.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes small invertebrates and seeds of some marsh plants.
Breeding
Nests are hidden in clumps of vegetation on marshes and grassland, slightly elevated from the ground. Both sexes appear to incubate the eggs.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Rail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Rail
