Gray-cowled Wood-Rail

Aramides cajaneus

The grey-cowled wood rail or grey-necked wood rail is a species of bird in the family Rallidae, the rails. It lives primarily in the forests, mangroves, and swamps of Central and South America. Of the two subspecies, A. c. avicenniae is found in southeastern Brazil, while the nominate is found throughout the portion of the range not occupied by the other subspecies. The species as a whole is usually found at elevations from sea level to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), although some have been found above that. This bird's large range, along with its significant population, is why it is considered to be least-concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In some places, it is occasionally hunted and kept for food. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 16,082 times across 19 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 29°C (typically 27 to 30°C, from 7 areas). That holds across 40° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in South America ranged from 23°S in October to 5°N in March, about 3,100 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.