- Pardirallus maculatus
Identification
25–28cm (9¾-11 in)
Medium size rail with red legs and iris, yellowish bill with red spot at the base. The body seems to be mostly black with white markings that on the upperside and upper breast are spots, while the rest of the underside is barred.
Distribution
Photo by Stanley Jones
Jaén sewage ponds, Cajamarca, Peru, January 2017
Locally from Mexico to northern Argentina, Brazil and Greater Antilles (though rare and local in Jamaica1).
Accidental vagrant to the United States with records in Texas and Pennsylvania.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies2:
- P. m. insolitus - Locally from southern Mexico to Costa Rica
- P. m. maculatus - Greater Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago; Venezuela, Argentina and Peru
Habitat
Freshwater swamps and rice fields.
Critically endangered in the West Indies due to habitat destruction.
Behaviour
Very difficult to see, more often heard. Mostly seems solitary.
Diet
Their diet consists of earthworms, insects and their larva, invertebrates, fish and plant material such as pondweed.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Photo by Fritz73
Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, Buenos Aires, Argentina
References
- Raffaele, H, J Wiley, OH Garrido, A Keith, JI Raffaele. 2003. Birds of the West Indies. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691113197
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Spotted Rail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spotted_Rail
