Birds of the World - Laterallus


White-throated Crake (Laterallus albigularis cerdaleus) Range: MA, SA: Nicaragua to Ecuador Laguna Tabacal, Cundinamarca, Colombia This subspecies has less white on throat than other subspecies.
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

Common in its range, and usually in tall grass and usually near water. But sometimes found in unexpected places.


Grey-breasted Crake (Laterallus exilis) Range: MA, SA: Guatemala through Amazonia and se SA Arari, Maranhão, Brazil
Photograph by Hector Bottai Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License (cc-by-sa-2.0). In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it under this or a similar cc-by-sa license.


Black-banded Crake (Laterallus fasciatus) Range: SA: w Amazonia Ecuador
Photograph by George Cruz (San Jorge Eco-Lodges) © All Rights Reserved.

Rufous with brown wings and wide black bands on belly. Lowland species with some records in foothills. Prefers dense flooded grasslands (Beckers).


Yellow-breasted Crake (Laterallus flaviventer woodi) Range: NA, MA, SA: Caribbean and s Mexico to se SA Medio Queso, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Photograph by Jorge Obando Gutierrez © Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.


Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) Endangered Range: NA, MA, SA: USA, Greater Antilles to w SA California, United States A song-bird sized rail almost never seen, and more active at night.
Photograph by Julio Mulero Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

A song bird sized rail, almost never seen, and more active at dusk and at night.


Red-and-white Crake (Laterallus leucopyrrhus) Range: SA: se Intervales, São Paulo, Brazil
Photograph by Matt Grube © All Rights Reserved.

Note red legs and uniform red head and flank color compared to Rufous-sided Crake with grey head and olive legs.
Browner bird (immature?)


Rusty-flanked Crake (Laterallus levraudi) Vulnerable Range: SA: Venezuela Nirgua, Yaracuy State, Venezuela
Photograph by Margareta Wieser © All Rights Reserved.


Rufous-sided Crake (Laterallus melanophaius melanophaius) Range: SA: widespread Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Note contrasting flank and head colors compared to Red-and-white Crake, and brownish olive legs. White-throated Crake is missing red flanks.
Photograph by Cláudio D. Timm Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.

A typical crake with a typical slurred rattle song. About half the size of a gallinule or coot.

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Inaccessible Island Rail (Laterallus rogersi) Vulnerable Range: AO: Inaccessible I.


Ruddy Crake (Laterallus ruber) Range: MA: e Mexico to Costa Rica Belize
Photograph by Dominic Sherony Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.


Galapagos Crake (Laterallus spilonota) Vulnerable Range: SA: Galápagos Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Photograph by Johanne Charbonneau © All Rights Reserved.

The sparrow-sized Galapagos Crake or Galapagos Rail resembles the Black Rail found mainly in the USA.

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Dot-winged Crake (Laterallus spiloptera) Range: SA: s Uruguay and ne Argentina


Rufous-faced Crake (Laterallus xenopterus) Vulnerable Range: SA: sc Brazil and c Paraguay Brazil
Photograph by João Sérgio Barros F. de Souza © All Rights Reserved.