Pardirallus sanguinolentus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Gruiformes

Familia: Rallidae
Genus: Pardirallus
Species: Pardirallus sanguinolentus
Subspecies: P. s. landbecki – P. s. luridus – P. s. sanguinolentus – P. s. simonsi – P. s. tschudii – P. s. zelebori
Name

Pardirallus sanguinolentus (Swainson, 1838)
Synonyms

Rallus sanguinolentus (protonym)
Ortygonax rytirhynchos
Pardirallus rytirhynchos
Ortygonax sanguinolentus (Swainson, 1838)

References

Animals in Menageries, in The cabinet cyclopedia p.335

Vernacular names
English: Plumbeous Rail
español: Rascón gallineta
português: Saracura-do-banhado

The plumbeous rail (Pardirallus sanguinolentus) is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.[3][4]
Taxonomy and systematics

The plumbeous rail has previously been placed in the large genus Rallus, and also in genus Orygonax with the blackish rail (Pardirallus nigricans). Some authors propose that the blackish and plumbeous rails are conspecific, and they do form a superspecies.[2] The plumbeous rail has these six subspecies:[3]

P. s. simonsi Chubb, C., 1918
P. s. tschudii Chubb, C., 1919
P. s. zelebori (Pelzeln, 1865)
P. s. sanguinolentus (Swainson, 1838)
P. s. landbecki (Hellmayr, 1932)
P. s. luridus (Peale, 1849)

Description

The blackish rail is 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) long and weighs 170 to 230 g (6.0 to 8.1 oz). The sexes are alike. They have red eyes and legs. They have a green bill and in all but subspecies P. s. luridus the maxilla has a sky blue base and the mandible a bright red one. The nominate subspecies P. s. sanguinolentus has mottled brown upperparts and plain gray face and underparts. The other subspecies differ somewhat in size and plumage. P. s. luridus is the largest and P. s. zelebori the smallest. P. s. simonsi is more olive brown above and paler gray below than the nominate. P. s. tschudii also has paler underparts. P. s. landbecki is more more olive brown upperparts than the nominate and no mottling. P. s. luridus has no mottling on its upperparts and has paler gray underparts than the nominate.[5]
Distribution and habitat

The six subspecies of plumbeous rail are distributed thus. The species is found further south than any other South American rail.[3][5]

P. s. simonsi, extreme southern Ecuador south along the Pacific slope through Peru into northern Chile
P. s. tschudii, southeastern Peru into central and southeastern Bolivia
P. s. zelebori, southeastern Brazil
P. s. sanguinolentus, extreme southeastern Brazil, Parguay, Uruguay, and Argentina as far south as Río Negro Province
P. s. landbecki, central Chile between the Atacama Region and Llanquihue Province and into southwestern Argentina
P. s. luridus, southern Chile and Argentina including Tierra del Fuego, and as a vagrant to the Falkland Islands[6]

The plumbeous rail inhabits a variety of landscapes characterized by water and vegetative cover. Examples include reed marshes (even small ones), ponds with floating vegetation, irrigated croplands, wet ditches through pasture, and oases in arid areas. In elevation it occurs mostly in the lowlands but ranges in some limited areas as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and in a few locations up to about 4,000 m (13,000 ft)[5]
Fossil record

Late Pleistocene-early Holocene fossils of the plumbeous rail are known from the Laguna de Tagua Tagua formation of Chile.[7]
Behavior
Movement

The plumbeous rail's movement patterns are imperfectly known. Some populations, such as those along the Atlantic coast, are known to be sedentary. Those that nest on the Argentine Pampas may move north in winter.[5]
Feeding

The plumbeous rail mostly forages at twilight but is also active during both day and night. It seeks its diet of grubs, worms, and insects in marshes, ponds, and nearby cultivated fields.[5]
Breeding

The plumbeous rail's breeding season varies geographically but is generally within October to January. It makes a rudimentary nest of dry grass on the ground among bushes or tall grass near water. The clutch size is four to six eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.[5]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to plumbeous rail on xeno-canto
Vocalization

Male plumbeous rails sing "a series of high, penetrating, rolling squeals" in a duet with the female's "low, deep 'hoo' notes". They sing at any time of day. Their calls are "repeated 'giyp' or 'wit' notes".[5]
Status

The IUCN has assessed the plumbeous rail as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, and though its population size is unknown it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] Though its "status [is] difficult to assess in many areas" it is abundant in some, and is "[p]robably more widespread than is currently known".[5]
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Plumbeous Rail Pardirallus sanguinolentus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692772A93368937. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692772A93368937.en. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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
Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Finfoots, flufftails, rails, trumpeters, cranes, Limpkin". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
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
Taylor, B. (2020). Plumbeous Rail (Pardirallus sanguinolentus), 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.plurai1.01 retrieved October 13, 2022
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
Alarcón-Muñoz, Jhonatan; Labarca, Rafael; Soto-Acuña, Sergio (2020-12-01). "The late Pleistocene-early Holocene rails (Gruiformes: Rallidae) of Laguna de Tagua Tagua Formation, central Chile, with the description of a new extinct giant coot". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 104: 102839. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102839. ISSN 0895-9811. S2CID 225031984.