Virginia Rail - BirdForum Opus

Includes Ecuadorian Rail

Rallus limicola

Photo by mcdomik
Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin, USA, July 2004

Identification

• Rufous breast
• Long, slightly decurved bill
• Red bill and legs
• Grey face
• Black and white barring on flanks
• Brown streaking on back

Juvenile
Photo by jvhigbee
Soap Lake, Washington, US, September 2003

Similar Species

Similar to King Rail, but king rail is much larger, with light brownish bill and legs, less grey in face.

Distribution

Nova Scotia to California and North Carolina; southwestern Colombia to western Peru; southern Chile and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies¹

• R. l. limicola - Southern Canada and US; winters to Baja and Guatemala
• R. l. friedmanni - South-eastern Mexico (Puebla, México, Veracruz and Chiapas)
• R. l. aequatorialis - "Ecuadorian Rail": Locally in mountains of south-western Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

Habitat

Shallow freshwater marshes with emergent vegetation.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects and aquatic animals.

Breeding

The nest is a platform composed of cattails and other plants in a dry area in the marsh. The clutch consists of 5 to 13 eggs. Both adults care for the young.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Virginia Rail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Virginia_Rail

External Links

Search for photos of Virginia Rail in the gallery