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Yellow-breasted crake

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Yellow-breasted crake
atArari,Maranhão,Brazil
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Laterallus
Species:
L. flaviventer
Binomial name
Laterallus flaviventer
(Boddaert,1783)
Synonyms

Micropygia flaviventer(Boddaert, 1783)
Poliolimnas flaviventer(Boddaert, 1783)
Hapalocrex flaviventer
Porzana flaviventer

Theyellow-breasted crake(Laterallus flaviventer) is a species ofbirdin the subfamily Rallinae of familyRallidae,the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found on several Caribbean islands and in most of Central America and South America.[2][3]

Taxonomy and systematics

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The yellow-breasted crake was described by the French polymathGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffonin 1781 in hisHistoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.[4]The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved byFrançois-Nicolas Martinetin thePlanches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturellewhich was produced under the supervision ofEdme-Louis Daubentonto accompany Buffon's text.[5]Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalistPieter Boddaertcoined thebinomial nameRallus flaviventerin his catalogue of thePlanches Enluminées.[6]The yellow-breasted crake was next placed in thegenusPorzanaand was erected by the French ornithologistLouis Pierre Vieillotin 1816.[7][2]That generic name is the Venetian word for the small crakes. Thespecific epithetcombines the Latinflavusmeaning "yellow" withventermeaning "belly".[8]

However, the yellow-breasted crake's taxonomy has not been resolved. It was formerly sometimes placed in the obsolete genusPoliolimnasor united with theOcellated crakeinMicropygia.Phylogenetic analysesofmitochondrial DNArevealed that it is not a part ofPorzanaproper, and instead belongs within theCoturnicops–Laterallusclade.[9][10]

As of late 2022 theInternational Ornithological CommitteeandBirdLife International'sHandbook of the Birds of the Worldplace the yellow-breasted crake in genusLaterallus.The North American Classification Committee of theAmerican Ornithological Society(AOS) and theClements taxonomyplace it in themonotypicgenusHapalocrex.The South American Classification Committee of AOS retains it in genusPorzanaafter rejectingLaterallusbut is seeking a proposal to move it toHapalocrex.[2][3][11][12][13]

The worldwide taxonomic systems agree that the yellow-breasted crake has these fivesubspecies:[2][3][12]

Description

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The yellow-breasted crake is 12.5 to 14 cm (4.9 to 5.5 in) long. Males weigh 22 to 29 g (0.78 to 1.0 oz) and females 20 to 28 g (0.71 to 0.99 oz). The sexes are alike. Their generally buffy face has a dark line through the eye and a pale buff-whitesupercilium,a pattern unique amongNew Worldmembers of Rallidae. Adults of thenominate subspeciesL. f. flaviventerhave brown upperparts and a white throat, buffy yellow breast, and black and white banded flanks and belly. The other subspecies differ from the nominate in size and the intensity of their colors. The nominate andL. f. gossiiare the largest, and the nominate has the darkest neck and breast.L. f. bangsi's upperparts are the darkest andL. f. hendersoni's are the palest.[14]

Distribution and habitat

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The five subspecies of yellow-breasted crake are found thus:[2][14]

  • L. f. gossii,Cuba and Jamaica
  • L. f. hendersoni,Hispaniola and Puerto Rico
  • L. f. woodi,from central Mexico south to northwestern Costa Rica
  • L. f. bangsi,northern Colombia
  • L. f. flaviventer,Panama east through northern and central Colombia and Venezuela to the Guianas and south through parts of Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay into northeastern Argentina; also Trinidad and Tobago[15]

Undocumented sight records in Ecuador lead the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the AOS to call the species hypothetical in that country. The SACC also notes it as avagrantrather than an inhabitant in Uruguay.[15]

The yellow-breasted crake is primarily a bird of freshwater systems, but is also rarely found in saltwater. It inhabits marshes, grassy edges of ponds and lakes, rice fields, and flooded grassy fields. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 2,500 m (8,200 ft).[14]

Behavior

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Movement

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The yellow-breasted crake is usually considered sedentary, but movements have not been fully defined. At some locations in Colombia it is present only from March to July, and in Costa Rica it appears to make local movements as water levels change.[14]In addition, the SACC has no records of breeding in French Guiana, which hints at some migration.[15]

Feeding

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The yellow-breasted crake forages among emergent plants, sometimes running across them or climbing among them. It leaves cover during dawn and dusk to feed at the water's edge. Its diet includes smallgastropods,insects, and seeds.[14]

Breeding

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The yellow-breasted crake's breeding season(s) are not well defined but appear to vary geographically. It builds a loose nest among reeds or marsh grass. An average clutch is about four eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.[14]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to yellow-breasted crake on xeno-canto

Vocalization

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The yellow-breasted crake has at least three vocalizations, a "[l]ow, harsh, rolled or churring 'k'kuk kurr-kurr'", a "plaintive, squealing, single or repeated 'kreer' or 'krreh'", and a "high-pitched, whistled 'peep'."[14]

Status

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TheIUCNhas assessed the yellow-breasted crake as being of Least Concern. Its estimated population of 7000 mature individuals has an unknown trend. No immediate threats have been identified.[1]It is considered locally common in much of its range and is "undoubtedly more widespread than is known."[14]

References

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  1. ^abBirdLife International (2021)."Yellow-breasted CrakeLaterallus flaviventer".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2021:e.T22692720A152235418.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22692720A152235418.en.Retrieved27 November2022.
  2. ^abcdeGill, Frank;Donsker, David;Rasmussen, Pamela,eds. (August 2022)."Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin".IOC World Bird List Version 12.2.International Ornithologists' Union.Retrieved25 November2022.
  3. ^abcHBW 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.zipretrieved August 7, 2022
  4. ^Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de(1781)."Le petit râle de Cayenne".Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux(in French). Vol. 15. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. pp. 259–260.
  5. ^Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de;Martinet, François-Nicolas;Daubenton, Edme-Louis;Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie(1765–1783)."Petit râle, de Cayenne".Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle.Vol. 9. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 847.
  6. ^Boddaert, Pieter(1783).Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton: avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés(in French). Utrecht. p. 52, Number 847.
  7. ^Vieillot, Louis Pierre(1816).Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire(in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 61.
  8. ^Jobling, James A. (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.London: Christopher Helm. pp.161,315.ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. ^Garcia-R, Juan C.; Gibb, Gillian C.; Trewick, Steve A. (December 2014). "Deep global evolutionary radiation in birds: Diversification and trait evolution in the cosmopolitan bird family Rallidae".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.81:96–108.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.008.ISSN1055-7903.PMID25255711.
  10. ^Stervander, Martin; Ryan, Peter G.; Melo, Martim; Hansson, Bengt (2019). "The origin of the world's smallest flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island Rail Atlantisia rogersi (Aves: Rallidae)".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.130:92–98.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.007.ISSN1055-7903.PMID30321695.
  11. ^Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society.https://checklist.aou.org/taxa
  12. ^abClements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded fromhttps://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/retrieved November 10, 2022
  13. ^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.htmretrieved July 24, 2022
  14. ^abcdefghTaylor, B. and E. de Juana (2020). Yellow-breasted Crake (Hapalocrex flaviventer), 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.yebcra1.01retrieved November 27, 2022
  15. ^abcRemsen, 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. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories.https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htmretrieved July 24, 2022
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