The Bogotá rail was first described in 1856 by the American ornithologist Philip Sclater, based on a specimen sent to him by the French collectors Jules and Édouard Verreaux.

[5] The Bogotá rail has two known subspecies:[2] R. s. peruvianus is known from a single specimen thought to have been collected in Peru; it is now considered to be extinct.

[7] The Bogotá rail is a typical member of the genus Rallus, with a long and slightly decurved bill, a plump body, and a short tail.

It inhabits wetlands, ponds, and wet meadows on montane slopes and in the páramo, at elevations ranging from 2,000 to 4,100 m (6,600 to 13,500 ft) meters.

The species is typically found in dense reedbeds dominated by the sedge Schoenoplectus californicus, but also including emergent vegetation such as Juncus effusus, Polygonum punctatum, Rumex obtusifolius, Bidens laevis, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, and Carex acutata.

A study of Bogotá rails in the wetland of La Conejera found that they spent on average 84% of their time within this type of habitat.

It seeks prey at the edges of reedbeds and marshes, in flooded grassy areas, in shallow water with floating plants, and among waterlogged dead vegetation.

Its vocalizations include "squeaks, grunts, and whistling and piping notes" that increase in volume and fairly abruptly end.

"Drainage has caused massive habitat loss on the Ubaté-Bogotá plateau, and few suitably vegetated marshes remain because of pollution and siltation.