Laterallus spilonotus
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) and HuttyMcphoo (photography) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Galapagos crake (Laterallus spilonota), also called the Galapagos rail and Darwin's rail, is a vulnerable species of rail in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It resembles its sister species, the black rail of the Americas, from which it diverged 1.2 million years ago.
The Galapagos crake was originally described as Zapornia spilonota and has been moved among at least five other scientific names before its current binomial was adopted. At least one author classified it as a subspecies of black rail, and others consider the black rail and Galapagos crake to form a superspecies.
The Galapagos crake is monotypic. The Galapagos crake is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs about 35 to 45 g (1.2 to 1.6 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a dark gray crown and medium gray head and underparts. Their flanks and thighs have sparse narrow whitish bars. Their interscapulars, scapulars, and upper back are chestnut brown and the lower back, rump, uppertail coverts, and tail are dark brown. Their upper wing coverts also are brown, and may have fine white spots, and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Galapagos Crake sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 326 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 69th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Galapagos Crake in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–June, the lowest months. Those are among Galápagos Islands's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Galapagos Crake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Galapagos Crake sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Galapagos Crake is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (326 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
