The rusty-flanked crake (''Laterallus levraudi'') is a

Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in subfamily Rallinae of family

Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, althoug ...

, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

.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 rusty-flanked crake 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 "unispec ...

. Some authors treat it and the

rufous-sided crake The rufous-sided crake (''Laterallus melanophaius'') is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife Internati ...

(''Laterallus melanophaius'') as a superspecies.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Description

The rusty-flanked crake is long. The sexes are alike. They have dark olive brown upperparts and red flanks. Their underparts are red except for a white throat and center of the breast.Taylor, B., C. J. Sharpe, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Rusty-flanked Crake (''Laterallus levraudi''), 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.rufcra2.01 retrieved November 29, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The rusty-flanked crake is found only in Venezuela north of the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

, mostly coastally and somewhat inland along the western flank of the Andes. It inhabits a variety of wet lowland landscapes including swamps, marshes, lagoons, lakeshores, and flooded pastures. In elevation it ranges from about .

Behavior

Movement

The rusty-flanked crake is not known to migrate.

Feeding

The rusty-flanked crake's foraging technique and diet have not been documented but are assumed to be similar to those of congeners. They usually forage on the ground or in shallow water, mostly for insects but also feeding on seeds.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the rusty-flanked crake's breeding biology.

Vocalization

The rusty-flanked crake's song is "an abrupt, loose churring" sometimes preceded by single notes: "ti ... ti .. ti.ti.trrrrrrrrrrrrrr". It is especially vocal during the morning, and in May to July.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

originally assessed the rusty-flanked crake in 1988 as Threatened, then in 1994 as Vulnerable and in 2000 as Endangered. In 2018 it was again assessed as Vulnerable. It has a limited range which is however larger than thought in the past. Its estimated population of between 1000 and 2500 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Degradation and destruction of its habitat by industrial waste, tourist development, agriculture, and dam expansion are the principle threats. It appears to be locally common and "conversion of largely-forested regions to pastureland with water-bodies may favour this crake."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261990

rusty-flanked crake The rusty-flanked crake (''Laterallus levraudi'') is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds ...

Birds of the Venezuelan Coastal Range Endemic birds of Venezuela

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot