Description
The Zapata Rail is a medium-sized, dark rail, approximately 29 cm (11.4 in) long. The upperparts are olive-brown and the forehead, head sides and underparts are slate-grey, with some white barring on the lower belly. The flanks are grey-brown and the undertail is white. The iris, legs and feet are red, and the bill is yellow with a red base. The tail feathers are only sparsely barbed, and the wings are very short and rounded. The sexes are similar in appearance, but immature birds are duller and have olive feet and bill; the chicks, as with all rails, are covered with blackish down. The Zapata Rail's call is described as a bouncing cutucutu-cutucutu-cutucutu similar to that of the Bare-legged Owl, and a loud Limpkin-like kuvk kuck. However, these calls may actually be those of the Spotted Rail.
There are no similar species in Cuba; the sympatric Spotted Rail is much the same size, but is heavily spotted and barred with white. The Zapata Rail's plumage is intermediate between those of Colombian Crake and Plumbeous Rail, but these are mainland birds of Central and South America.
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