About Porzana albicollis (Vieillot, 1819)
The ash-throated crake (scientific name Porzana albicollis (Vieillot, 1819)) measures 21 to 24 cm (8.3 to 9.4 in) in length and weighs 90 to 120 g (3.2 to 4.2 oz). Males and females have identical plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have black upperparts with brown feather edges, pale gray throat, breast, and belly, and black and white bars on the flanks and undertail coverts. They have a short greenish bill and purplish brown legs. The subspecies P. a. typhoeca is smaller and paler than the nominate subspecies. The two subspecies of ash-throated crake have fully separate ranges. P. a. typhoeca occupies the more northerly range, found from Colombia east through Venezuela, extreme northern Brazil, and the Guianas, and south into far northeastern Ecuador. It was previously present on Trinidad but has been extirpated from the island. P. a. albicollis is found in eastern and southern Brazil, southeastern Peru, northern and eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay, extreme northern Argentina, and extreme northern Uruguay. The species lives in a wide variety of damp to wet landscapes, including freshwater marshes, moriche swamps, rice fields, savanna, and pastures, though it typically occurs in the drier sections of marshes and swamps. Its elevation range extends from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft).
