Uniform crake

{{Speciesbox | name = Uniform crake | image = Amaurolimnas concolor - Uniform crake; Dourado, São Paulo, Brazil.jpg | image_caption = ''Amaurolimnas concolor'' | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2021 |title=Uniform Crake ''Amaurolimnas concolor'' |volume=2021 |article-number=e.T22692601A163610586 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22692601A163610586.en |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref> | genus = Amaurolimnas | parent_authority = Sharpe, 1893 | species = concolor | authority = (Gosse, 1847) | synonyms = *''Rallus concolor'' (Gosse, 1847) *''Aramides concolor''<ref name=SACClist>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.htm retrieved July 24, 2022</ref> *''Laterallus concolor''<ref name=UNCR-BOW>Taylor, B. (2020). Uniform Crake (''Amaurolimnas concolor''), 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.unicra1.01 retrieved October 14, 2022</ref> | range_map = Amaurolimnas concolor map.svg }}

The '''uniform crake''' ('''''Amaurolimnas concolor''''') is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae.<ref name=IOC12.2>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/flufftails/ |title=Finfoots, flufftails, rails, trumpeters, cranes, Limpkin |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 12.2 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=August 2022 |access-date=August 9, 2022 }}</ref><ref name=HBW2021>HBW 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.zip retrieved August 7, 2022</ref> It is found in Mexico, most of Central America, and in nine South American countries.<ref name=NACC>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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220000000/https://web.archive.org/web/20200220100331/https://checklist.aou.org/taxa |date=2020-02-20 }}</ref><ref name=SACCcountries>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. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022</ref>

==Taxonomy and systematics==

The uniform crake was first described in genus ''Rallus'' and at various times since then placed in genera ''Aramides'' and ''Laterallus'' before its present ''Amaurolimnas''.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/><ref name=SACClist/> It is the only member of that genus and has two extant subspecies, ''A. c. guatemalensis'' and ''A. c. castaneus''. The nominate subspecies, the Jamaican wood rail (''A. c. concolor''), which was endemic to Jamaica, is extinct.<ref name=IOC12.2/>

==Description==

The uniform crake is {{convert|20|to|23|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs about {{convert|95|to|130|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. The sexes are alike. They have a medium length yellowish green bill, a red eye, and pinkish red legs and feet. ''A. c. guatemalensis'' is the larger of the two living subspecies; it has olivaceous brown upperparts and brown underparts. ''A. c. castaneus'' is also olivaceous brown above, but has rufous brown underparts.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

==Distribution and habitat==

The uniform crake has a highly disjunct distribution. Subspecies ''A. c. guatemalensis'' is found from Veracruz and Oaxaca in southern Mexico through Central America (except El Salvador) and western Colombia into northwestern Ecuador. ''A. c. castaneus'' is found in northern Venezuela, the Guianas, several separate areas of Brazil both inland and coastal, eastern Ecuador and Peru, and locally in Bolivia. It inhabits a variety of wet to almost dry landscapes including wooded swamps, flooded forest, heavily vegetated ravines and streams, and dense vegetation on the edges of secondary forest and cultivated areas. In elevation it ranges from sea level to about {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

==Behavior== ===Movement===

The movements of the uniform crake, if any, are not known.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

===Feeding===

The uniform crake mostly forages in cover, where it searches leaf litter and other detritus and digs in mud with its bill. Its diet includes earthworms, insects and spiders, small amphibians and lizards, seeds, and berries.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

===Breeding===

The uniform crake's breeding season is essentially unknown; in Costa Rica it does include July. It is thought to be territorial in the breeding season. One nest in Costa Rica was in a swamp forest near a stream. It was a cup made of leaves in the top of a vine-covered stump and contained four eggs.<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Amaurolimnas-concolor |species=uniform crake}} ===Vocalization===

The uniform crake's song is a "series of 6–20 upslurred 'tooee' whistles". Pairs maintain contact with "clear, but not loud, whistled 'tooo' notes". The species' alarm call is "a sharp, nasal 'kek'".<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

==Status==

The IUCN has assessed the uniform crake as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.<ref name=IUCN/> Its distribution is spotty even within larger areas of its range. "Because of its secretive habits [the] species is undoubtedly overlooked, and is possibly more widely distributed than currently known, but [is] certainly adversely affected by destruction of its forest habitats."<ref name=UNCR-BOW/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Rallidae Category:Birds described in 1847 Category:Taxa named by Philip Henry Gosse Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot