Slaty-legged Crake - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies amauroptera
Photo © by drjpmenon
Western Ghats, South India, December 2016

Rallina eurizonoides

Identification

Subspecies formosana
Photo © by Dave 2x
Daxi, Taiwan, November 2014

21–25 cm (8¼-9¾ in); a flat-bodied crake

• Brown back
• Chestnut head and breast
• Black and white barring on flanks, belly and undertail.
• White throat
• Yellowish bill
• Green legs with long toes
• Short tail

Sexes are similar
Juveniles: dark brown. They share the belly barring and white throat with the adults

Distribution

Asia: found from India and Pakistan to Japan; the Philippines, the Sulawesi Islands, the Sula Islands, and western Micronesia.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Photo © by Don Gato
Ban Maka Resort, Petchburi, Thailand, January 2009

There are 7 subspecies^[1]:

• R. e. amauroptera:

• Pakistan and India to Assam; winters to Sri Lanka

• R. e. telmatophila:

• Myanmar to northern Thailand, Sumatra and Java

• R. e. sepiaria:

• Ryukyu Islands

• R. e. formosana:

• Taiwan and Lan-yü Island

• R. e. eurizonoides;

• Philippines; vagrant to Palau Islands (western Micronesia)

• R. e. alvarezi:

• Batan Islands (northern Philippines)

• R. e. minahasa:

• Sulawesi and Sula Islands

Habitat

Forests and forest edges, well-wooded areas and scrub, swamps.

Behaviour

They are thought to be a partial nocturnal species.

Breeding

Nests are built in a dry area of dense vegetation on the ground or in a low bush. The clutch consists of 4-8 eggs.

Diet

They have a varied diet which consists of molluscs, worms and insects; also plant material such as the shoots and seeds of marsh plants.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Taylor, B. (2020). Slaty-legged Crake (Rallina eurizonoides), 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.sllcra1.01

1. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Slaty-legged Crake. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Slaty-legged_Crake

External Links

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