Gray-breasted Crake
Laterallus exilis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderGruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)
- FamilyRallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)
- GenusLaterallus (Laterallus Crakes)
- SpeciesLaterallus exilis (Gray-breasted Crake)
About the Gray-breasted Crake
The grey-breasted crake (Laterallus exilis) is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The grey-breasted crake is monotypic, though the population along the Honduras-Nicaragua border was once proposed as a subspecies. The grey-breasted crake is 14 to 15.5 cm (5.5 to 6.1 in) long. Males weigh 26.5 to 39 g (0.93 to 1.4 oz) and females 29 to 43 g (1.0 to 1.5 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a pale gray head and breast, a white throat, and a chesnut nape. The rest of their upperparts are olive brown and their flanks are heavily barred black and white.
The grey-breasted crake has several discreet ranges. One is from Belize and eastern Guatemala through Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama into Colombia and western Venezuela. Another is in central Venezuela and a third extends through the Guianas into Brazil. The largest encompasses most of Amazonian Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Gray-breasted Crake in Iberá National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Iberá National Park
Rufous-sided Crake
Laterallus melanophaius
Giant Wood-Rail
Aramides ypecaha
Ash-throated Crake
Porzana albicollis
Common Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
American Purple Gallinule
Porphyrio martinica
Gray-cowled Wood-Rail
Aramides cajanea
Plumbeous Rail
Pardirallus sanguinolentus
Spotted Rail
Pardirallus maculatus
Yellow-breasted Crake
Porzana flaviventer
Azure Gallinule
Porphyrio flavirostris
Spot-flanked Gallinule
Gallinula melanops
White-winged Coot
Fulica leucoptera
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.