Gray-cowled Wood-Rail Gallery

Aramides cajaneus

Birds of the The World website offers these introductory words about the Gray-cowled Wood-Rail:  Gray-cowled Wood-Rail is the most widespread species of Aramides, occurring from southwestern Costa Rica south to northern Argentina. This species primarily occupies swampy forest and forest edge, and the margins of forest streams, and also occurs in mangroves and the edges of marshes. Gray-cowled Wood-Rail usually remains under vegetative cover or in thickets, but sometimes ventures out in the open. The diet is mostly invertebrates, but presumably includes small vertebrates such as frogs, and perhaps also seeds, berries, and palm fruits. The nest is a platform of twigs and grasses, placed in a bush or tree, up to 3 m above the ground, and often above water. Gray-cowled Wood-Rail and Russet-naped Wood-Rail (Aramides albiventris) formerly were considered to be a single species, Gray-necked Wood-Rail. They differ in several ways, however, including in plumage (the rufous nape is reduced or absent on Gray-cowled Wood-Rail) and in vocalizations. The two species also replace each other very abruptly in Costa Rica, with Gray-cowled reaching its northern limit in southwestern Costa Rica, and Russet-Naped Wood-Rail from northeastern Costa Rica north to eastern Mexico.

I saw and photographed my first Gray-cowled Wood-Rail on August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride then spent the rest of the day exploring various areas and trails at the ranch.  I saw a rather secretive Gray-cowled Wood-Rail near a small pond that was attracting a variety of birds.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this intriguing bird.

I also saw the Gray-cowled Wood-Rail on August 30, 2023 at Pouso Alegre Lodge in the Pantanal.  I saw this bird at the main feeder at the Lodge and also at the large waterhole.  Here are a few of the pictures I took at Pouso Alegre.