Two overlooked elusive crakes (Aves, Rallidae): first country record of Ocellated Crake Micropygia schomburgkii in Ecuador and Rufous-faced Crake Laterallus xenopterus in Peru

ABSTRACT

We present two new distributional country records based on previously misidentified sound recordings: Ocellated Crake, Micropygia schomburgkii (Schomburgk, 1848), in Zamora Chinchipe (Ecuador) and Rufous-faced Crake, Laterallus xenopterus Conover, 1934, in Madre de Dios (Peru). We show supporting spectrograms of sound recordings and provide tools to justify the correct identification of the trills of both species. This range extension is especially relevant for the Vulnerable L. xenopterus, representing a new important breeding site in the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Peru.

KEYWORDS:

• Polluela Ocelada
• Gallineta Guaraní
• distribution extension
• Pampas del Heath
• Bahuaja Sonene National Park

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Ted Parker, whose titanic survey efforts and documented records continue to enlighten us and to contribute to bird conservation. We thank Fabricio C. Gorleri, Jefferson García Loor, and all the rangers of Aguará Ñú 2016 for their companionship and help in field trips for sound-recording. Fabricio C. Gorleri also helped with elevational data. We specially thank Myriam Velázquez and Elisa Bonaccorso for their help with study permits and field trip logistical requirements in Paraguay and Ecuador, respectively. We thank Greg Budney, who gave us valuable comments about Ted Parker sound-recordings. We appreciate all the assistance provided by Matthew Medler, from the Macaulay Library (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Our research was funded by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), and the Neotropical Bird Club through a Conservation Award. Neither had input into the contents of the manuscript nor required their approval of the manuscript before submission or publication. All the study permits needed for the development of our field studies were granted by the pertinent governmental institutions of Paraguay and Ecuador.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors contributions

EAD identified the species for the new country records, analyzed the recordings, conducted research, and wrote the paper; NK sound-recorded Ocellated Crake for the first time in Ecuador, conducted research, and wrote the paper; JIA conducted research and wrote the paper.