Bird of the Month: Virginia Rail
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
The Virginia Rail can be elusive, but it forages actively at dawn and dusk and can be seen along the edges of wetlands.
Like most rails, the Virginia Rail inhabits thick vegetation in wetlands and is said to have a slim body allowing it to walk in thick grass and reeds. It also has specially adapted feather tips in the region of the head which helps reduce feather wear as it rubs against vegetation (Conway). The sexes are similar in their rusty-brown appearance. The gray face contrasts with the rusty neck and chest and the reddish bill and legs. The flanks are marked by black and white barring.
The genus Rallus is from the Latin for rail and is home for four North American rails: Virginia, Ridgway, King, and Clapper Rails, and a total of 13 species worldwide. The Virginia Rail is named for the region where Europeans found it in the Americas, however, this rail inhabits most of the United States, and its range extends to South America. The species epithet limicola is from the Latin limus for mud or slime, and -cola, to inhabit. This is a bird that lives around wetlands, marshes, and mudflats.
HEARD MORE OFTEN THAN SEEN
Virginia rail
Scientific Name: Rallus limicola
Length: 9.5”
Wingspan: 13”
Weight: 3 oz (85 g)
AOU Alpha Code: VIRA
Virginia Rails have a wide variety of calls and are more often heard than seen. Descriptions of their calls vary, but there is agreement that there are at least three principle vocalizations. The first is a year-round call of a descending pig-like grunts (Dunne). The second is the male’s mechanical breeding call kid-kid-kiDik-kiDik-kiDik-kiDik (Alderfer). The third is the female’s call which is a rich churring chi chi chi chi treerrr (Sibley). Virginia Rails are responsive to human-made sounds and simple hand clapping can induce a response with vigorous grunt calls. Photos, videos, and vocalizations of Virginia Rail can be found at The Macaulay Library.
BREEDS OVER WATER
A pair of Virginia Rails builds a platform nest in a dry area or in reeds a few inches over very shallow water. Usually, it is nestled under overhanging grasses, cattails, or reeds. The number of eggs can vary greatly from five to 13 depending on the conditions. Both parents share incubation duties for about three weeks. The downy black puffball-looking precocious young will leave the nest in 2-3 days. However, they will stay and be fed by the parents for a few weeks until fully-grown and before the adults depart (Kaufman).
Virginia Rails feed on aquatic insects, beetles, spiders, worms, and insect larvae by probing with their long decurved bill. Another rail, the Sora (Porzana carolina) shares the same habitat with the Virginia Rail and the two have adapted without directly competing for food (Conway). The Sora is a seed eater with a short stout almost finch-like bill.
STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION
Some data from breeding bird surveys indicate that Virginia Rails have experienced population decline since the mid-1900s (Conway). However, despite the difficulty in studying this reclusive rail, its current population is considered stable and there are no conservation measures in place for them except, of course, general preservation of wetlands.
Virginia Rails breed over a wide range from the southern portion of Canadian provinces and those United States along the U.S.-Canada border to a large area west of the Rocky Mountains and south into Mexico. Many of these rails migrate and winter along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the east, and Southern and Baja California in the west. Virginia Rails are resident in the Puget Sound area in Washington, coastal Southern California, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico.
Photo credit Mick Thompson.
References available upon request from amccormick@eastsideaudubon.org
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