Chestnut-headed crake
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Chestnut-headed crake
| image = PorzanaCastaneicepsSmit.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Anurolimnas
| parent_authority = Sharpe, 1893
| species = castaneiceps
| authority = (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1869)
| synonyms = * Anurolimnas castaneiceps
Rallina castaneiceps
| range_map = Anurolimnas castaneiceps map.svg
}}
The chestnut-headed crake (Anurolimnas castaneiceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is the only species placed in the genus Anurolimnas. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The chestnut-headed crake was formally described in 1869 by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin based on a specimen that had been collected in the Napo River region of eastern Ecuador. They coined the binomial name Porzana castaneiceps.{{ cite journal | last1=Sclater | first1=P.L. | author1-link=Philip Sclater | last2=Salvin | first2=Osbert | author2-link=Osbert Salvin | date=1868 | publication-date=1869 | title=Synopsis of the American rails (Rallidae) | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | pages=442–470 [453] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28665004 }} For the publication date see: {{ cite journal | last=Dickinson | first=Edward C. | author-link=Edward C. Dickinson | date=2006 | title=The Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1859–1900: an exploration of breaks between calendar years of publication | journal=Zoological Society of London | volume=266 | issue= | pages=427–430 | doi=10.1017/S0952836905007077 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229992363 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=181 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482994 }} The taxonomy of the chestnut-headed crake was previously uncertain and the species was placed in either Rufirallus or Anurolimnas.{{ cite book | last=Taylor | first=P.B. | year=1996 | chapter=Family Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules and coots) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=3: Hoatzin to Auks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-20-7 | pages=108-209 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0003unse/page/156/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/flufftails/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=1 March 2025}} A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2023 found the chestnut-headed crake formed a basal branch within the Pardirallini clade (genera Mustelirallus, Pardirallus, Amaurolimnas and Aramides) with a date of divergence from the rest of the Pardirallini estimated at 15.4 to 18.5 Mya.{{Cite journal | last1=Depino | first1=E.A. | last2=Pérez-Emán | first2=J.L. | last3=Bonaccorso | first3=E. | last4=Areta | first4=J.I. | date=2023 | title=Evolutionary history of New World crakes (Aves: Rallidae) with emphasis on the tribe Laterallini | journal=Zoologica Scripta | volume=52 | issue=4 | doi=10.1111/zsc.12595}} Based on this result the chestnut-headed crake is now the only species placed in the genus Anurolimnas had been introduced in 1893 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe.{{ cite journal | last1=Sharpe | first1=R. Bowdler | author1-link=Richard Bowdler Sharpe | date=1893 | title=The following were the characteristics of the new genera proposed by Dr. Sharpe | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=1 | issue=5 | page=28 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32475132 }} The genus name Anurolimnas combines the negative prefix of Ancient Greek αν-/an- with ουρα/oura meaning "tail" and Modern Latin limnas meaning "rail".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Anurolimnas | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Anurolimnas | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=1 March 2025 }} The specific castaneiceps combined the Latin castaneus meaning "chestnut-coloured" with -ceps meaning "-headed".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=castaneiceps | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=castaneiceps | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=1 March 2025 }}
Two subspecies are recognised:
- A. c. coccineipes Olson, 1973 – south Colombia, northeast Ecuador
- A. c. castaneiceps (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1869) – east Ecuador, east Peru, southwest Brazil and northwest Bolivia
Description
The chestnut-headed crake is {{convert|19|to|21.5|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. One female weighed {{convert|126|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. The sexes are alike. Adults' bills have a mostly black maxilla that is greenish below the nostrils and a greenish mandible with a black tip. The nominate subspecies' forecrown, sides of the head and neck, and breast are bright rufous. Their throat is orange-rufous or light buff. Their crown, back, rump, wing coverts, belly, and vent area are brownish olive. Their legs and feet are dull brown or olivaceous. Immatures are duller; they are brown or brownish olive where the adult is rufous and their throat is pale grayish buff. Subspecies A. c. coccineipes has red legs and feet but very similar plumage to the nominate. Some authors state that it has greener (less brown) upperparts and tawny tones to the rufous areas, but others find no significant difference between the subspecies.{{cite web | last1=Schulenberg | first1=T.S | last2=Kirwan | first2=G.M. | date=2024 | title=Chestnut-headed Crake (Anurolimnas castaneiceps), version 1.2 | editor1-last=Schulenberg | editor1-first=T.S. | editor2-last=Smith | editor2-first=M.G. | work=Birds of the World | location=Ithaca, NY, USA | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | url=https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chhcra1.01.2 | access-date=2 March 2025 | url-access=subscription }}
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies of chestnut-headed crake is found from southern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northern Peru. Its southern limit in Peru is the left bank of the Rio Napo and in Ecuador it is the same or perhaps somewhat beyond it. R. c. coccineipes is found from the Rio Napo (or vicinity) in Ecuador and Peru south into extreme northwestern Bolivia. A separate population is found in Brazil's Acre state. The species inhabits humid landscapes with a dense understory such as secondary forest, where it especially favors overgrown agricultural plots in tropical evergreen forest. Unlike most others of its family, it can be found far from water. In Colombia it is found up to {{convert|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}}; in Ecuador it mostly occurs below {{convert|700|m|ft|abbr=on}} but can be found as high as {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The chestnut-headed crake is a year-round resident throughout its range.
Behavior
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=Breeding=
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Conservation status
The IUCN has assessed the chestnut-headed crake as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon in most of its range but "benefits from low levels of human disturbance, taking advantage of edge habitats around small garden plots."