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

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 the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot 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 ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to 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 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 "unispec ...

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 a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

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 attra ...

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; 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 ...

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