The Zoochat Photographic Guide to Rails and allies

Aenigmatolimnas
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.

Formerly placed in the lumped genus Porzana.



Striped Crake Aenigmatolimnas marginalis
Monotypic



Found patchily throughout most of subsaharan Africa.

 

Amaurornis
Five species are recognised here, although some were formerly placed in other genera so different authors will disagree on numbers and placements. Some of the crakes now placed in the genus Zapornia (as in this thread) were formerly also in Amaurornis. A 2020 paper on rail genetics (Phylogenomic Reconstruction Sheds Light on New Relationships and Timescale of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) Evolution) found that the White-browed Crake "Amaurornis" cinerea does not belong in this genus and is instead closely related to the New Guinea Flightless Rail Megacrex inepta.

Two species are represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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Isabelline Bush Hen Amaurornis isabellina
Monotypic.



Endemic to Sulawesi.



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Talaud Bush Hen Amaurornis magnirostris
Monotypic.



Endemic to the Talaud Islands, northeast of Sulawesi.



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Pale-vented Bush Hen Amaurornis moluccana
Four subspecies: moluccana, nigrifrons, ruficrissa, ultima.

The Australian subspecies ruficrissa is represented in the Zoochat galleries.



A. m. moluccana is found from Sangihe, the Talaud and Sula Islands, the Moluccas, and into western and northern New Guinea.

A. m. nigrifrons is found in the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands.

A. m. ruficrissa is from New Guinea and Australia.

A. m. ultima is from the Solomon Islands.



Photo by @Hix in the wild, Australia (subspecies ruficrissa).


Pale-vented Bush-hen - ZooChat



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Philippine Bush Hen Amaurornis olivacea
Monotypic.



Endemic to the Philippines.



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White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
There is a range of opinions on subspecies. Here I follow the majority with three: insularis, leucomelanus, phoenicurus.


A. p. insularis is found in the Andaman Is and Nicobar Islands.

A. p. leucomelana is found in Sulawesi, the Moluccas, and the Lesser Sundas.

A. p. phoenicurus is found from Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent across Asia to Japan and in the south to the Greater Sundas. (Includes the subspecies chinensis and javanica).



Photo by @Jackwow at Lao Zoo (Laos) (subspecies phoenicurus)


Water Rail? - ZooChat


Photo by @Terry Thomas in the wild, Sri Lanka (also the subspecies phoenicurus)


White-breasted water hen - ZooChat

 

Gallicrex
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries except as a taxidermy specimen.



Watercock Gallicrex cinerea
Monotypic.



Found from Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent across Asia to Japan and south as far as the Lesser Sundas.



The only photo of the species in the Zoochat galleries is of a taxidermy specimen by @KevinB at Olmense Zoo in Belgium, seen here: Taxidermy specimen Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea), 2019-06-01 - ZooChat

 

White-browed Crake "Amaurornis" cinerea
Now usually treated as monotypic, although numerous subspecies have been recognised in the past.

Has often alternatively been placed in the genera Porzana or Poliolimnas.


I have placed this species in its own post without a genus heading because a paper on rail genetics published in 2020 (Phylogenomic Reconstruction Sheds Light on New Relationships and Timescale of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) Evolution) found that this species was actually a sister-species to the New Guinea Flightless Rail Megacrex inepta. I'm not sure whether it is closely related enough to also be placed in Megacrex, or if it should be in a separate monotypic genus.



Found throughout southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia, and east through the Pacific islands to Fiji and Samoa.



There are only a few photos of this species in the Zoochat galleries and none show the birds very well. The best is probably this one of a captive bird by @Maguari at Burgers Zoo (Netherlands).


White-browed Crake in Burgers Mangrove at Burgers Zoo Arnhem, 29/08/10 - ZooChat

 

Megacrex
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Previously thought to be closely related to the Drummer Rail Habroptila wallacii of the Moluccas (which is related to Gallirallus), but this is probably not the case. It has also been placed in the genus Amaurornis. As noted in the previous post, a 2020 paper on rail genetics found that this species is closely related to the White-browed Crake (although neither should be placed in Amaurornis).




New Guinea Flightless Rail Megacrex inepta
Two subspecies: inepta and pallida.


M. i. inepta is from south-central New Guinea.

M. i. pallida is from north-central New Guinea.

 

The "Aramides" clade.


This clade contains five genera, all of which are fairly small. Amaurolimnas and Cyanolimnas have only one species each, while Mustelirallus and Pardirallus have three species each. The largest genus is Aramides which has about nine species.

The genus Mustelirallus used here (as it is in BOW) did not appear in HBW Alive, it being created from their two Neocrex species and Porzana albicollis.


Eight species are represented in the Zoochat galleries, from the genera Aramides, Mustelirallus and Pardirallus.

 

Amaurolimnas
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.

The single species in this genus is clearly closely related to Aramides. However it has also been placed in the genus Laterallus (which is in a different clade). Both Amaurolimnas and Aramides have also been merged into Eulabeornis (in yet another clade).



Uniform Crake Amaurolimnas concolor
Three subspecies: castaneus, concolor, guatemalensis. The nominate subspecies is now extinct.


A. c. concolor was endemic to Jamaica but was last recorded in 1881.

A. c. guatemalensis is found from southern Mexico to northwest Ecuador.

A. c. castaneus is found throughout most of northern South America, as far south as Bolivia.

 

Aramides
About nine species, although there is disagreement over the status of some taxa. Five species are represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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White-bellied or Russet-naped Wood Rail Aramides albiventris
Five subspecies: albiventris, mexicanus, pacificus, plumbeicollis, vanrossemi.

The subspecies albiventris and plumbeicollis are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


This Central American species was formerly lumped with the Grey-necked Wood Rail Aramides cajaneus which is now largely of a South American distribution although there is a distributional overlap in Costa Rica. The paper detailing the split includes maps and photographic comparisons of species: A taxonomic review of Aramides cajaneus (Aves, Gruiformes, Rallidae) with notes on morphological variation in other species of the genus



A. a. albiventris is found from the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) south to Guatemala.

A. a. mexicanus is from the Caribbean slope of Mexico.

A. a. pacificus is from the Caribbean slope of Honduras and Nicaragua.

A. a. plumbeicollis is from northern Costa Rica.

A. a. vanrossemi is found from southern Mexico to Guatemala and El Salvador.



Photo by @ralph in the wild, Mexico - subspecies albiventris.


Russet-naped Wood-Rail (Aramides albiventris) - ZooChat


Photo by @Newzooboy in the wild, Costa Rica - subspecies plumbeicollis.


Grey-necked Wood Rail - Mar 2019 - ZooChat



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Plumbeous-backed Wood Rail Aramides avicenniae
Monotypic.

Split from the Grey-necked Wood Rail Aramides cajaneus.



Endemic to coastal Sao Paulo (Brazil).



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Rufous-necked Wood Rail Aramides axillaris
Monotypic.



Found in Central and northern South America, from coastal Mexico to the Guianas and Trinidad.



Photo by @toto98 at Avario Nacional de Colombia (Colombia)


Rufous-necked wood rail (Aramides axillaris) - ZooChat



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Grey-necked Wood Rail Aramides cajaneus
Monotypic.

This species formerly had a more extensive distribution, as far north as Mexico, but the majority of the Central American subspecies were split off into a separate species (the White-bellied or Russet-naped Wood Rail Aramides albiventris). The paper detailing the split includes maps and photographic comparisons of species: A taxonomic review of Aramides cajaneus (Aves, Gruiformes, Rallidae) with notes on morphological variation in other species of the genus

A further subspecies was also split as a full species, the Plumbeous-backed Wood Rail Aramides avicenniae.



Found from Costa Rica (where there is some distributional overlap with A. albiventris) to northern Argentina. Two other named subspecies, latens and morrisoni from islands in Panama's Pearl Islands archipelago, have been included in the nominate cajaneus making the species monotypic.



Photo by @ralph in the wild, Costa Rica (note the clear differences in colouration between this individual in southern Costa Rica and the photo of A. albiventris earlier in the post by @Newzooboy which was taken in north-eastern Costa Rica).


Grey-necked wood-rail - ZooChat


Photo by @Therabu at Belo Horizonte Zoo (Brazil)


Grey-necked wood rail (Aramides cajaneus) - ZooChat



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Red-winged Wood Rail Aramides calopterus
Monotypic.



Found in eastern Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil.



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Little Wood Rail Aramides mangle
Monotypic.



Found in eastern Brazil.



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Slaty-breasted Wood Rail Aramides saracura
Monotypic.



Found in southeast Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay.



Photo by @Therabu in the wild, Brazil


Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail Aramides saracura - ZooChat



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Brown Wood Rail Aramides wolfi
Monotypic.



Found patchily from western Colombia to southwestern Ecuador.



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Giant Wood Rail Aramides ypecaha
Monotypic.



Found in central South America, in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay.



Photo by @Maguari at L'Oceanografic Valencia (Spain)


Giant Wood Rail at Oceanografic, 29/05/11 - ZooChat

 

Cyanolimnas
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.



Zapata Rail Cyanolimnas cerverai
Monotypic.


Endemic to the Zapata Swamp, in Cuba.

 

Mustelirallus
Three species, one of which is represented in the Zoochat galleries.

This genus is recognised in the BOW but did not appear in HBW Alive. According to that latter taxonomy two of the species were placed in a genus Neocrex (actually a junior synonym of Mustelirallus) and the third species was placed in the lumped genus Porzana.



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Ash-throated Crake Mustelirallus albicollis
Two subspecies: albicollis and typhoeca.

This species was formerly placed in the lumped genus Porzana.



P. a. albicollis is from central South America, in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina.

P. a. typhoeca is from northern South America, in Colombia, Venezuela, extreme northern Brazil, northeastern Ecuador, the Guianas, and also on Trinidad.


Both photos below by @Therabu in the wild, Brazil - subspecies albicollis.


Ash-throated Crake Mustelirallus albicollis - ZooChat



Ash-throated Crake Mustelirallus albicollis - ZooChat



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Colombian Crake Mustelirallus colombiana
Two subspecies: colombiana and ripleyi.

This species (and the following species) were formerly placed in the genus Neocrex. Various sites still use that latter genus for these two species but it is a junior synonym of Mustelirallus (1869 versus 1858).



N. c. colombiana is from Colombia and Ecuador.

N. c. ripleyi is from Panama and northwest Colombia.



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Paint-billed Crake Mustelirallus erythrops
Two subspecies: erythrops and olivascens.

This species (and the preceding species) were formerly placed in the genus Neocrex. Various sites still use that latter genus for these two species but it is a junior synonym of Mustelirallus (1869 versus 1858).



N. e. erythrops is from coastal Ecuador and western Peru, and also the Galapagos Islands.

N. e. olivascens is found (often patchily) from Costa Rica to as far south as northern Argentina and Paraguay.

 

Pardirallus
Three species, two of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


The members of this genus have also been placed in Rallus.



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Spotted Rail Pardirallus maculatus
Two or three subspecies: inoptatus, insolitus, maculatus.



P. m. inoptatus is from Cuba, but often merged into P. m. maculatus.

P. m. insolitus is found from Mexico to Costa Rica or Panama.

P. m. maculatus is found on the larger Caribbean islands, and in South America from Colombia to Argentina.



Photo by @d1am0ndback in the wild, Texas (USA) - vagrant individual, likely the subspecies insolitus.


Spotted Rail- Pardirallus maculatus - ZooChat


Photo by @Najade in the wild, Dominican Republic - subspecies maculatus.


https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/spotted-rail-pardirallus-maculatus.686653/



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Blackish Rail Pardirallus nigricans
Two subspecies: caucae and nigricans.



P. n. caucae is from northwest Colombia (largely the Cauca Valley area).

P. n. nigricans is found throughout much of northern South America, from Ecuador to Argentina.


Photo by @Therabu in the wild, Brazil - subspecies nigricans.


Blackish Rail Pardirallus nigricans - ZooChat



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Plumbeous Rail Pardirallus sanguinolentus
Six subspecies: landbecki, luridus, sanguinolentus, simonsi, tschudii, zelebori.



P. s. landbecki is found in central Chile and southwest Argentina.

P. s. luridus is found in southern Chile and southern Argentina.

P. s. sanguinolentus is found from Paraguay to Brazil.

P. s. simonsi is found on the Pacific slope of Peru to Chile.

P. s. tschudii is found in Peru and Bolivia.

P. s. zelebori is found in southeastern Brazil.

 

The "Himantornis" clade.


This clade of one species was a late addition to the taxonomy of Garcia-R et al. In their 2014 paper the sample they used showed the species to belong within the "Gallicrex" clade, but in their 2020 study the results were completely different, showing it to be so different to the other clades that it needed to be separated entirely (although with the closest relatives being of the "Fulica" clade). This result roughly matched all previous ideas on the placement of Himantornis (it had typically been placed in its own subfamily due to "primitive" skeletal features), and the suggestion for the discrepancy was that the sample used for the 2014 study had been misidentified.




Himantornis
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.



Nkulengu Rail Himantornis haematopus
Monotypic, although three subspecies have been recognised in the past (haematopus, petiti, whitesidei).



Found in the rainforest belt across west and central Africa, from Sierra Leone to Uganda.

 

The "Fulica" clade.


This group contains about twenty extant species of rails in six genera. The group can be summarised as "coots and gallinules", with most species being either aquatic or tied to wetland habitats (only a few island species are terrestrial). There are also several known extinct species from oceanic islands.

The two main genera are Fulica (about ten species of coots) and Gallinula (four species of gallinules). Three smaller genera - Paragallinula, Porphyriops and Tribonyx - were all formerly included within Gallinula.

The final genus is Porzana, the members of which are physically unlike the other species in the group, being small crakes - this genus, currently with only three species, was formerly much larger and contained all the Zapornia species and a smattering of other genera which have proven to not be closely related.


Four of the genera are represented by photographs in this thread (the missing two are Paragallinula and Porphyriops), comprising fifteen species in total.

 

Fulica
Ten extant species, of which six species are represented in the Zoochat galleries (marked with asterisks in the list below).


*Hawaiian Coot Fulica alai
*American Coot Fulica americana
*Andean Coot Fulica ardesiaca
Red-gartered Coot Fulica armillata
*Common or Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
Horned Coot Fulica cornuta
*Red-knobbed Coot Fulica cristata
*Giant Coot Fulica gigantea
White-winged Coot Fulica leucoptera
Red-fronted Coot Fulica rufifrons



Three extinct island-dwelling species of Fulica are known from historical records and/or subfossil remains:

Chatham Islands Coot Fulica chathamensis
Endemic to the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand, and described in 1892 from skeletal remains. This is the largest known coot (about twice the weight of the living Common Coot Fulica atra), although it was probably not completely flightless. Bones are common in Moriori midden sites. The species had already been hunted to extinction by the time of European arrival.

Mascarene Coot Fulica newtonii
Found in the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion (generally treated as being a single species rather than two species). They were hunted to extinction by European settlers (there were no original human inhabitants of the islands), with the last written record from Reunion being in 1674 and the last from Mauritius being in 1693.

New Zealand Coot Fulica prisca
Found on the main islands of New Zealand, and described in 1893 from skeletal remains. It was only slightly smaller than the related Chathams Island Coot, and from the body proportions and deposit sites it is thought to have probably been fairly terrestrial in habits. There has been debate about whether these two species should be considered separate species or not. Bones are common in Maori midden sites. The species had already been hunted to extinction by the time of European arrival.

 

Hawaiian Coot Fulica alai
Monotypic.

Formerly treated as a subspecies of the American Coot Fulica americana.



Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.



Photo by @KCZooFan in the wild, Oahu (Hawaiian Islands, USA)


Hawaiian Coot - ZooChat



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American Coot Fulica americana
Two subspecies: americana and columbiana.

The Hawaiian Coot Fulica alai and Andean Coot Fulica ardesiaca have been treated as subspecies in the past. It is now generally recognised that the Caribbean Coot Fulica caribaea is just a southern morph of the nominate race of American Coot.


F. a. americana is found from Alaska (USA) and Canada south to Central America and the Caribbean islands, and coastal Venezuela.

F. a. columbiana is from the Colombian Andes (and formerly also Ecuador).



Photo by @vogelcommando at Parque Zoologico del Centenario (Mexico) - subspecies americana.


American coot - ZooChat



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Andean Coot Fulica ardesiaca
Two subspecies: ardesiaca and atrura.

Formerly treated as a subspecies of the American Coot Fulica americana.


F. a. ardesiaca is from the Andes of interior Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

F. a. atrura is from the Andes of southern Colombia, Ecuador, and coastal Peru.



Photo by @devilfish at Vesty Pakos Zoo (Bolivia) - subspecies ardesiaca.


Andean coot with dragonfly, March 2016 - ZooChat



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Red-gartered Coot Fulica armillata
Monotypic.



Found from central Chile, southeast Brazil, and Uruguay, south through Argentina to Tierra del Fuego.



This species is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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Common or Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
Four subspecies now generally recognised: atra, australis, lugubris, novaeguineae.

The subspecies atra and australis are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


F. a. atra is found throughout Eurasia, to North Africa (also wintering further south to West Africa), throughout the Indian subcontinent, and as far east as Japan and the Philippines. The Sri Lankan population has been separated in the past as F. a. langkensis.

F. a. australis is found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand (self-introduced to the latter in the 1950s and now common throughout).

F. a. lugubris is found in (the highlands of?) Java, Bali, and northwest New Guinea. The latter population was previously separated as F. a. anggiensis - I'm not sure why they have been combined as it seems a curiously disjunct distribution for a subspecies, especially when there is a second resident subspecies (novaeguineae) on the island as well as probable wintering birds of the Australian subspecies australis.

F. a. novaeguineae is from central New Guinea.



Photo by @ZooGirl101 in the wild, Netherlands - subspecies atra, with chick.


Eurasian Coot & Chick - ZooChat


Photo by @Hix in the wild, Australia - subspecies australis.


Eurasian Coot - ZooChat

 

Horned Coot Fulica cornuta
Monotypic.



Found in Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.



This species is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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Red-knobbed Coot Fulica cristata
Monotypic.



Found in southern Spain and in Morocco, and throughout most of (non-forested) Africa and also Madagascar.



Photo by @Mehdi in the wild, Morocco.


Red-knobbed coot - (Lac Zerouka) - ZooChat


Photo by @Kakapo at Canada de los Pajaros (Spain)


Red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata) - ZooChat



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Giant Coot Fulica gigantea
Monotypic.



Found from southern Peru to northwest Argentina.



Photo by @vogelcommando at Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Germany)


Giant coot - ZooChat



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White-winged Coot Fulica leucoptera
Monotypic.



Found from Chile and Bolivia south to Tierra del Fuego.



This species is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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Red-fronted Coot Fulica rufifrons
Monotypic.



Found in two populations, one in western South America in coastal Peru and Chile, and the other in eastern South America from south Paraguay to central Argentina.



The only photo in the Zoochat galleries labelled as showing this species is a misidentification of Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata.

 

Gallinula
Four extant species, all of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


There are also three extinct island-dwelling species of Gallinula known from historical records, and also currently-undescribed species from Viti Levu (Fiji) and Eua (Tonga) which became extinct before European arrival.

Tristan da Cunha Moorhen Gallinula nesiotes
Endemic to the island of Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic Ocean. The species was common at the time of European discovery but was probably extinct before 1900 due to the introduction of mammals (rats, cats, and pigs) to the island. There is some dispute as to whether it is distinct from the closely-related Gough Island Moorhen Gallinula comeri or whether they are subspecies.

Samoan Moorhen Gallinula pacificus
Often retained in lists of extant species but it was last definitely recorded in the 1870s and was probably extinct before the turn of that century. There have been supposed sightings since then, even as recently as 1984 but they cannot be given much credence. The species has also been placed in Pareudiastes along with the Makira Moorhen.

Makira Moorhen Gallinula silvestris
Often retained in lists of extant species but the only specimen ever collected was in 1929 on Makira (San Cristobel) in the Solomon Islands. There are local reports from the 1950s, 1970s, and even as late as 2002, but with no confirmations. As with the Samoan Moorhen, this species has also been placed in the genus Pareudiastes.



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Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Five subspecies generally recognised: chloropus, guami, meridionalis, orientalis, pyrrhorrhoa.

The Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata of the Americas was also formerly included within this species.

The subspecies chloropus and meridionalis are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


G. c. chloropus is found in Europe, North Africa, the African islands (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, and Cape Verde Islands), and east across Asia to Japan, the Indian subcontinent, and Peninsular Malaysia; wintering birds also range to subsaharan Africa.

G. c. guami is found in the Northern Mariana Islands and on Guam.

G. c. meridionalis is found throughout subsaharan Africa, and on the island of St Helena.

G. c. orientalis is found in the Seychelles and Andaman Islands, and from southern Peninsular Malaysia through the Greater Sundas, Philippines, the Lesser Sundas, and Palau.

G. c. pyrrhorrhoa is found on the Indian Ocean islands, including Madagscar, the Comoro Islands, and the Mascarene Islands.



Photo by @vogelcommando in the wild, Belgium - subspecies chloropus.


Moorhen - ZooChat


Photo by @Nick@Amsterdam in the wild, South Africa - subspecies meridionalis.


Wild Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) at the zoo - ZooChat



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Gough Island Moorhen Gallinula comeri
Monotypic.

There is some dispute as to whether this species is distinct from the closely-related (but now extinct) Tristan da Cunha Moorhen Gallinula nesiotes or whether it should be treated as a subspecies.



Endemic to Gough Island in the south Atlantic Ocean. This species was also introduced in 1956 to the island of Tristan da Cunha, also in the south Atlantic, which formerly was inhabited by a closely-related species (G. nesiotes) which became extinct before 1900.



Photo by @gentle lemur at Lotherton Hall (UK)


Gough Island moorhen - ZooChat



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Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
Seven subspecies: barbadensis, cachinnans, cerceris, galeata, garmani, pauxilla, sandvicensis.

Until recently this species was included within the Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus of the Old World, but it has been separated (and widely accepted) based on genetics, voice, and morphological differences.

The subspecies cachinnans, galeata and sandvicensis are represented by good photos in the Zoochat galleries. A fourth subspecies (pauxilla) can be seen in a photo taken by @Nick@Amsterdam at Parque de Las Leyendas in Peru (albeit misidentified as a Red-fronted Coot Fulica rufifrons) but it is too small within the photo to bother using it in this thread: Tufted Capuchins (Cebus apella) in a mixed exhibit - ZooChat


G. g. barbadensis is endemic to Barbados.

G. g. cachinnans is found from Canada and USA to Panama, and also in Bermuda and the Galapagos Islands.

G. g. cerceris is found in Greater and Lesser Antilles.

G. g. galeata is found from Venezuela south to Uruguay and Argentina, and also on Trinidad.

G. g. garmani is found in the Andes of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.

G. g. pauxilla is found from Panama to coastal Chile.

G. g. sandvicensis is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.



Photo by @jayjds2 at the Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) - subspecies cachinnans.


Common Gallinule - ZooChat


Photo by @red river hog in the wild, USA (in the grounds of Zoo Miami) - chick of the subspecies cachinnans.


North American Common Gallinule Chick - ZooChat


Photo by @Therabu in the wild, Brazil - subspecies galeata.


Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) - ZooChat


Photo by @JaxElephant in the wild, Kaua'i (Hawaiian Islands, USA) - subspecies sandvicensis.


https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/alae-ula.670451/



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Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa
Three subspecies: frontata, neumanni, tenebrosa

The subspecies tenebrosa is represented in the Zoochat galleries.


G. t. frontata is found from Sulawesi to New Guinea.

G. t. neumanni is found in northern New Guinea.

G. t. tenebrosa is found in Australia and Tasmania.



Photo by @WhistlingKite24 in the wild, Australia - subspecies tenebrosa.


Wild Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) - ZooChat

 

Paragallinula
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.

The single species in this genus was formerly included in the genus Gallinula.




Lesser Moorhen Paragallinula angulata
Monotypic.



Found throughout most of subsaharan Africa.

 

Porphyriops
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.

The single species in this genus was formerly included in the genus Gallinula.




Spot-flanked Gallinule Porphyriops melanops
Three subspecies: bogotensis, crassirostris, melanops.


G. m. bogotensis is found in the Colombian Andes.

G. m. crassirostris is found in Chile and southwest Argentina.

G. m. melanops is found in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, northeast Argentina, and Uruguay.

 

Porzana
Three species, all of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.



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Sora Porzana carolina
Monotypic.



Found through southern Canada and most of the USA; wintering south as far as Peru and Guyana.



Photo by @Moebelle at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (USA)


Dec. 2014 - North America - Sora or Yellow Rail? - ZooChat



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Australian Crake Porzana fluminea
Monotypic.

Also known as Australian Spotted Crake.



Found in Australia and Tasmania.



Photo by @Hix in the wild, Australia.


https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/australian-spotted-crake.688182/



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Spotted Crake Porzana porzana
Monotypic.



Found across the Palaearctic from Europe to as far east as Mongolia and China; winters to as far south as South Africa and India.



Photo by @Jo Kuyken of a captive bird.


Spotted crake (Porzana porzana) - ZooChat