Bogota Rail (Rallus semiplumbeus)

Identification & Behavior: ~21.5 cm (8.5 in). The Bogota Rail has mottled-gray upperparts, distinctive gray sides of the head. It has brown wing coverts. Most of the underparts are gray-brown with the rear half blackish with white bars.  The bill is red and black. It is similar to the Virginia Rail.

Status: The Bogota Rail was described from a single specimen from Perú now lost (Plenge 1979). Listed by Peters (1934) as a race of R. limicola, but Meyer de Schauensee (1966) suggests that in size it is about similar to R. semiplumbeus P. L. Sclater, 1856 (cf. Blake 1977, Fjeldså 1990; Hellmayr and Conover 1942, Ripley 1977, Taylor 1998). It also occurs in Co.

Name in Spanish: Rascón de Bogotá.

Sub-species: Bogota Rail (Rallus semiplumbeus peruvianus) Taczanowski, 1886.

Meaning of Name: Rallus: Gr. A rail. semiplumbeus: L. semi=half and plumbeus=leaden, gray.

See more of the Family Rallidae