The Ecuadorian rail is a species of bird according to the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), AOS, and Clements checklist, but other taxonomic systems treat it as a subspecies of the Virginia rail. It is in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Region
Northern Andes
Typical Environment
Occurs patchily in high-Andean wetlands from southern Colombia through the Ecuadorian Andes into northern Peru. Favors dense emergent vegetation in freshwater marshes, reedbeds, and sedge-dominated swamps, often with cattails (Typha) and totora (Schoenoplectus). It uses wet pastures and the vegetated margins of lakes and ponds, avoiding large expanses of open water. Occurrence is often local due to the fragmented nature of suitable marsh habitat.
Altitude Range
2000–3800 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This secretive rail of the Northern Andes is most often detected by its loud, grunting calls rather than seen. It was long treated as a subspecies of the Virginia Rail but is recognized by several authorities as a distinct species. It relies on dense high-Andean marshes, which are threatened by drainage, burning, and conversion to agriculture.
Temperament
secretive and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats; reluctant flier that prefers to run through cover
Social Behavior
Typically solitary or in pairs, maintaining territories within dense marsh vegetation. Nests are built low in reeds or sedges, often domed or concealed over shallow water. Both adults likely share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Chicks are precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching, staying hidden in thick cover.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include a series of grunts and kek-like notes, often delivered as accelerating or evenly spaced sequences. Calls carry well at dawn and dusk and are the primary means of detecting the species.
Plumage
Brown upperparts with darker streaking, gray cheeks and face, rich rufous to chestnut underparts, and black-and-white barred flanks. Under-tail coverts are buffy with fine barring.
Diet
Takes aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects, beetles, snails, and worms, and will also consume tadpoles, small fish, and occasionally seeds and plant matter. Probes soft mud and leaf litter with its bill and gleans prey from stems and surfaces. Opportunistic feeding allows it to exploit a variety of marsh microhabitats.
Preferred Environment
Forages along the edges of dense reeds, sedges, and rushes, often at the ecotone between open water and thick cover. Will also use wet meadows, drainage ditches, and rice fields when cover is available.
