Porzana flaviventer
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) and HuttyMcphoo (photography) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The yellow-breasted crake (Laterallus flaviventer) is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found on several Caribbean islands and in most of Central America and South America.
The yellow-breasted crake was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1781 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Rallus flaviventer in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The yellow-breasted crake was next placed in the genus Porzana and was erected by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. That generic name is the Venetian word for the small crakes. The specific epithet combines the Latin flavus meaning "yellow" with venter meaning "belly".
However, the yellow-breasted crake's... Wikipedia →
Recording0:32
Honduras · 2018
© Francisco Dubón · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:11
Brazil · 2025
© Jonathan Lorencetti Ehlert · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 3 | Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 8 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-breasted Crake sighting in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 285th most-seen of the 348 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-breasted Crake in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-breasted 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.
Among the best
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Yellow-breasted Crake sightings, Tortuguero National Park ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Lago de Yojoa (Honduras, under 5%), Caroni Swamp (Trinidad and Tobago, under 5%) and Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park (Honduras, under 5%).
Same family: Rallidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-breasted Crake that you can see in Tortuguero National Park (family Rallidae, Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) are American Purple Gallinule (about 30%), Russet-naped Wood-Rail (about 20%) and White-throated Crake (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-breasted Crake is recorded against all the birds logged in Tortuguero National Park (17 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.
