From Opus

Rallus longirostris

Photo by Marysan
Imperial Beach, California, USA

[edit] Identification

• Chicken-sized bird
• Grayish-brown
• Pale chestnut breast
• Noticeable white patch under tail
• Bill curves slightly downwards

[edit] Distribution

It is found along the east coast of North America, the coasts and some islands of the Caribbean, and across northern South America to eastern Brazil. On the west coast, it breeds from central California through Mexico and south to northwestern Peru.

[edit] Taxonomy

R. wetmorei, the Plain-flanked Rail, is now considered to be split from R. longirostris.

Clapper Rail and King Rail (R. elegans) are closely related and possibly hybridize where ranges overlap. The two species are sometimes considered conspecific, to the point that the west coast subspecies of Clapper Rail are sometimes considered to belong to King Rail.

[edit] Subspecies¹

• R. l. obsoletus - N California (Humboldt Bay to Monterey Bay)
• R. l. levipes - S Calif. (Santa Barbara) to Baja Calif. (Scammons Lagoon)
• R. l. yumanensis - Salton Sea and Colorado River basin to w Mexico (Nayarit)
• R. l. beldingi - W Mexico (s Baja from Magdalena Bay to Espírito Santo I.)
• R. l. crepitans - Atlantic coast (Connecticut to ne North Carolina)
• R. l. waynei - Coastal Atlantic salt marshes (se North Carolina to e Florida)
• R. l. saturatus - Gulf Coast (sw Alabama to Texas and Tamaulipas)
• R. l. scotti - Coastal Florida (Pensacola to Cape Sable and Jupiter)
• R. l. insularum - Mangrove swamps of Florida Keys
• R. l. coryi - Mangrove swamps of Bahamas
• R. l. pallidus - Mangroves of se Mexico (coastal n Yucatán Peninsula)
• R. l. grossi - SE Mexico (islands on Chinchorro Bank off Quintana Roo)
• R. l. belizensis - Belize (Ycacos Lagoon)
• R. l. leucophaeus - Isle of Youth (Cuba)
• R. l. caribaeus - Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico to Antigua and n Antilles
• R. l. cypereti - Coastal sw Colombia to Ecuador and nw Peru (Tumbes)
• R. l. phelpsi - Extreme ne coastal Colombia and extreme nw Venezuela
• R. l. margaritae - Margarita I. (Venezuela)
• R. l. pelodramus - Trinidad
• R. l. longirostris - Coasts of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana
• R. l. crassirostris - Coastal e Brazil (Amazon estuary to Santa Catarina)

[edit] Habitat

Grassy marches and mangroves. When overlapping in range with King Rail, Clapper Rail normally are found in salt environs while King Rail is limited to freshwater ponds.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

These birds eat crustaceans, aquatic insects and small fish. They search for food while walking, sometimes probing with their long bills, in shallow water or mud.

This bird rarely flies, which is reflected in the many subspecies found across its range.

[edit] References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

[edit] External Links