Food
Mainly invertebrates such as insects, aquatic and terrestrial insect larvae, earthworms, nematodes, small leeches, small gastropods, myriapods and spiders. Occasionally also small frogs and vegetable matter.
White-spotted Flufftail (Sarothrura pulchra) [XC700027]
by Brendan Sloan from Aboabo, Kakum National Park, Ghana (song)
White-spotted Flufftail (Sarothrura pulchra) [XC624281]
by BurBenj from Bulembe, Missenyi, Kagera Region, Tanzania (call, duet)
Nest
A mound of dead leaves near forest pools, on damp forest floors, or on rotten tree roots standing in shallow swamp water.
Subspecies
Genus sometimes merged into Coturnicops, which is more likely to be a derivative of Sarothrura stock. Birds of western Cameroon highlands formerly awarded subspecies tibatiensis, but now reckoned to be synonymous with nominate; batesi has sometimes been considered synonymous with either zenkeri or centralis.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
pulchra (Gray, 1829) - Gambia and southern Senegal east to south-western Niger, Nigeria (except extreme south-east) and northern and central Cameroon; possibly extreme south-western Mali.
centralis Neumann, 1908 - Congo and northern Angola east through Zaire to extreme southern Sudan, western Kenya extreme north-western Tanzania and extreme north-western Zambia.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet