Bird Guide

Bogota Rail vs Mangrove Rail

Bogota Rail (Rallus semiplumbeus)

Bogota Rail

Rallus semiplumbeus

Medium161 gWetland

The Bogotá rail is a typical member of the genus Rallus, with a long and slightly decurved bill, a plump body, and a short tail. It is 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 12 in) long. Its bill is dull red, shading to dusky black on the culmen and tip. Its eyes are red with a black pupil, and its legs are dull coral red. The sexes are alike. Adults have a sepia brown crown and nape and plumbeous gray face, breast, and belly. Their back, tertials, secondaries, and the upper side of the tail are dull brown, with black streaks on the back. Voice: The Bogotá rail calls only in daytime. Its vocalizations include "squeaks, grunts, and whistling and piping notes" that increase in volume and fairly abruptly end. When disturbed it also makes a "brief, rapid 'titititirr'."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Bogota Rail
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Song · La Florida Parque, Colombia · CC BY 4.0
Photo: scaup · CC BY 4.0
Mangrove Rail (Rallus longirostris)

Mangrove Rail

Rallus longirostris

Medium259 gCoastal

The mangrove rail is about 33 cm (13 in) long and weighs 260 to 310 g (9.2 to 11 oz). It has a long, slender, and slightly decurved bill with a brownish maxilla and an orange-yellow mandible. Its legs are light orange-red. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies R. l. longirostris have dull gray-brown upperparts with darker centers to the feathers. They have a white loral streak on their pale gray face, a whitish throat, tawny buff neck and breast with a white center to the belly, and black and white bars on the flanks. Voice: The mangrove rail's main vocalization is a "oud clattering 'kek-kek-kek…'" that accelerates and then slows; it makes this call mostly at dawn and dusk. Both sexes make "a series of loud, rapid 'kak' notes" as an "advertising call". Another call is a "drawn-out low 'raaaaa'."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Mangrove Rail
Recorded by Rosa Elena Albornoz · Call · Mariño (near Porlamar), Mariño Municipality, Nueva Esparta, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela · CC0
Photo: Thomaz de Carvalho Callado · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Bogota Rail and Mangrove Rail.