Rallus limicola
The best way to experience a Virginia Rail is to sit alongside a wetland marsh, clap your hands three or four times and wait patiently. At best, this slim bird may reveal itself for an instant to a determined observer, but most often, the bird's voice is all that betrays its presence. When pursued by an intruder or predator, a rail will scurry away through dense, protective vegetation, rather than risk a getaway flight. Rails are very narrow birds that have modified feather tips and flexible vertebrae, all of which allow them to squeeze through the narrow confines of their marshy homes-it almost makes you think that 'as thin as a rail' refers to these birds. |
I.D.: Sexes similar. Adult: rusty breast; barred flanks; gray cheeks; long, downcurved, reddish bill; very short tail. Immature: much darker overall; light bill. In flight: chestnut wing patch. Size: L 9-11 in. (23-28 cm). Range: uncommon summer breeder in the central and southern U.S. Rockies; very uncommon migrant elsewhere in the Rockies. Habitat: freshwater wetlands, especially in cattail and bulrush marshes. In migration: wetlands near lakes and marshes. Nesting: concealed in emergent vegetation, usually suspended just over the water; loose basket nest is made of coarse grass, cattail stems or sedges; pair incubates the spotted eggs for up to 20 days. Feeding: probes into soft substrates for soft-bodied invertebrates, such as earthworms, beetles, snails, spiders, insect larvae and nymphs; gleans vegetation for snails and beetles; also eats pondweeds and seeds. Voice: call is an often repeated, telegraph-like tick-tick-tick-tick-queea; also grunts and croaks. Similar Species: Sora: short, yellow bill; black mask. |
