Paint-billed Crake

Overview

The paint-billed crake, Mustelirallus erythrops, is a small rail in the family Rallidae that inhabits a variety of wet and dry environments across the Americas. It is a very furtive bird that is difficult to observe, with a very large range but an unknown population size.

Identification

• 18 to 20 cm in length with bright red legs and a distinctive red and yellow bill.
• Plumage varies by subspecies: the nominate has brown upperparts, a grey face and breast, and black-and-white barred flanks; the olivascens subspecies is darker with less white on the throat.
• The song is a long, gradually accelerating series of up to 36 staccato, yelping 'kjek' notes.
• Calls include frog-like guttural notes, a soft purring, and a sharp 'twack'.

Habitat

Found in Central America, mainland South America (except Chile and Uruguay), and the Galápagos Islands, with occasional vagrancies to Trinidad and the United States. It occupies a wide variety of landscapes, from reedbeds, marshes, and rice fields to dry pastures and humid woodlands, ranging in elevation from near sea level to 3,400 m.

Diet

The diet consists of invertebrates such as millipedes and beetles, as well as seeds. Foraging takes place in soil, leaf litter, and standing water, often in open areas adjacent to dense vegetation at dawn and dusk.

Did you know?

Although no regular movements have been confirmed, the species is prone to vagrancy and has been recorded far outside its normal range in Texas, Virginia, and Trinidad. It does not respond to its own song when played back.