Clapper rail Rallus longirostris
Identification Tips:
Length: 12 inches Wingspan: 20 inches
Fairly large, chunky, short-tailed, round-winged, ground-dwelling marsh bird
Long, slightly decurved bill ...
Clapper Rail ( Rallus longirostris )
Clapper Rail, Laguna Madre Nature Trail, South Padre Island, Texas
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details) ...
Clapper Rail
Rallus longirostris
The Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) occurs in coastal marshes from California to Texas and up the Atlantic Seaboard.
Clapper Rail: Large, noisy marsh bird, gray or brown upperparts, vertical white-barred flanks and belly, buff or rust-brown breast. Bill is long, slightly decurved. Gray legs, feet. Feeds at low tide on mudflats or hidden in salt marsh vegetation.
The Clapper Rail, or Salt-water Marsh-hen, struts through North America's coastal marshes, pumping its head and bobbing its tail. With a narrow body and good swimming skills, it moves through dense marsh plants at all water levels.
Clapper Rail
Last updated 6/22/98
Clapper Rail are common residents of the salt marshes of the UTC. If you stay until sunset you are almost certain to hear their "kek kek kek kek" call.
THE CLAPPER RAIL, OR SALT-WATER MARSH-HEN.
[Clapper Rail.]
RALLUS CREPITANS, Gmel.
[Rallus longirostris.] ...
Clapper rails are crepuscular - or more active at dawn and dusk. One way to census clapper rails is to listen for the duets of breeding pairs. Mated pairs duet more often in the evening and slightly less often during the morning hours.
RETURN TO TOP ...
3. Clapper Rail out of hiding, Palo Alto Baylands.
4. Clark's Grebe, with chicks on board, Lake Merced, San Francisco.
5. Common Merganser pair, Los Alamitos ...
Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris. Breeder. Common in all seasons in Gulf Coast region. Found in salt water and brackish marshes around the mouths of coastal rivers and creeks. MODERATE CONSERVATION CONCERN.
Clapper Rails, also known as Marsh Hens and Mud Hens, are more often heard than seen. They inhabit coastal marshes and mangroves. They nest in clumps of grasses or other vegetation sometimes building ramps.
Clapper Rail
Winter Sighting Information: uncommon
Nest on or near Refuge? yes
King Rail
Winter Sighting Information: uncommon
Nest on or near Refuge? no ...
Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris: Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Brigantine), NJ, 13 May
Sora Porzana carolina: The Meadows, Cape May, NJ, 14 May
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus: San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA, 01 Jan ...
Seasonal variation in habitat use, movement, and area requirements of the Yuma Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail, and Sora were studied in the Mittry Lake Wildlife Management Area in southwestern Arizona (years of study were 1985-1987, given in Conway, C.
Clapper Rail, Rallus longirostris
King Rail, Rallus elegans
Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola
Sora, Porzana carolina (A)
Yellow-breasted Crake, Porzana flaviventer
Zapata Rail, Cyanolimnas cerverai (E) Endangered ...
Its long bill, like that of the Clapper Rail, allows it to probe mud flats for worms, larvae, slugs and snails, although its primary diet is insects with lesser; fish, frogs, aquatic invertebrates, and seeds.
"About a dozen endangered Yuma clapper rails spend the summer months in the cattails of the marsh and may overwinter. More likely heard than seen, their dry kek-kek-kek echoes at dusk and dawn."
Goose near a small lake in western Texas.
Remarks The Smiths were able to study this rail at close range with binoculars and noted its much richer, rusty colouration in comparison with the Clapper Rail.
I had time to spare in the morning before the boat left and was lucky enough to find a Clapper Rail, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and six Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows at the boat ramp by Parking Lot 1 on the Parker River refuge.
 See also: King rail, Purple, Sparrow, Coot, Grebe
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