Habitat
Ravines, creeks and streams in primary and secondary lowland rainforest, especially where these are overhung by trees and bordered by rank undergrowth, seasonally flooded and swampy forest in areas with mud, tall arrowroot plants and tree ferns, as well as marshes within forested regions.
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda (E).
Sierra Leone eastern across northern Zaire to western Uganda and south-west to coastal Congo. Occurrence in northern Central African Republic (Manovo-Gounda-Saint Floris National Park) doubtful.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Grey-throated Rail (Canirallus oculeus) [XC862613]
by Rapha\u00ebl Jordan from Tabou, Bas-Sassandra District, Ivory Coast (alarm call)
Grey-throated Rail (Canirallus oculeus) [XC862614]
by id from Tabou, Bas-Sassandra District, Ivory Coast (alarm call)
Nest
A structure composed of broad grass located on stumps in swampy surroundings or among the roots of an uprooted tree over a stream bank.
Subspecies
Birds from Cameroon eastward sometimes treated as separate subspecies, batesi, but differ too little from other populations to merit subspecific status.