Bird Guide

Rufous-sided Crake vs White-throated Crake

Rufous-sided Crake (Laterallus melanophaius)

Rufous-sided Crake

Laterallus melanophaius

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The rufous-sided crake is 14 to 18 cm (5.5 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 50 to 60 g (1.8 to 2.1 oz). The sexes are alike. Both subspecies' bills have a gray maxilla with a pea green cutting edge and a pale pea green mandible with a white tip. Their legs and feet are light gray brown to olive brown. The nominate subspecies has dark olive brown upperparts with a gray tinge around the eye. The face and sides of the breast are rufous to cinnamon rufous. Voice: The rufous-sided crake's song is "a rubbery musical trill" much like those of other Laterallus crakes. Its calls include ""high-pitched tinkling calls short treeeeeng a harsh, descending djreer."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
White-throated Crake (Laterallus albigularis)

White-throated Crake

Laterallus albigularis

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The white-throated crake is 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) long. Males weigh about 50 g (1.8 oz) and females 45 g (1.6 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a white throat and upper breast and a rufous face, sides of the neck, and lower breast. Their crown, nape, and upperparts are olive brown. Their belly, vent, and undertail coverts are barred black and white. Subspecies L. a. cinereiceps has a gray face and L. a. cerdaleus has an entirely rufous head and throat. Voice: The white-throated crake makes an "brupt, explosive descending trill or churr"; its alarm call is "a sharp 'chip'" note.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-throated Crake
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Song · Vereda La Máquina, Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Thomas Ebner · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Rufous-sided Crake and White-throated Crake.