Speckled rail
The speckled rail (Coturnicops notatus), also called speckled crake, is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The speckled rail shares genus Coturnicops with the yellow rail (C. noveboracensis) of North America and Swinhoe's rail (C. exquisitus) of eastern Asia. It is monotypic. Description The speckled rail is long and weighs about . The sexes are alike. Adults have very dark brown plumage with white spots on their upperparts and white bars on their underparts. Distribution and habitat The speckled rail's core range is southern Paraguay, southern Brazil, eastern Argentina, and Uruguay. It is also found in Guyana and Venezuela and as a vagrant in Colombia. Undocumented sight records in Bolivia and the Falkland Islands lead the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) to class it as hypothetical in those countries. It primarily inhabits dense marshes, swamps, grassy savanna, and rice and alfalfa fields but is also found in the edges of humid woodland. In elevation it ranges from sea level to . Behavior Movement Some authors propose that the speckled rail is migratory,