From Opus

Coturnicops noveboracensis

Photo by jthoppes
Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, California, USA, January 2008

[edit] Identification

A secretive and small rail with a conical bill.

The buffy stripes on the back and the dark and yellow pattern on the face distinguish this species from the juvenile Sora. Also note white secondaries on flushed bird.

[edit] Distribution

Disjunct and local in marshes of Canada, northern U.S.; central Mexico

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• C. n. noveboracensis - Breeds in Canada and northern US; winters to Atlantic and Gulf coasts of U.S.
• C. n. goldmani - Locally in Río Lerma (central Mexico)

[edit] Status of goldmani

Last recorded in 1964. In Mexico there's been much habitat destruction due to marsh drainage; however, unexplored, inaccessible marshes could allow a small population of this skulking subspecies to remain unnoticed indefinitely.

[edit] Habitat

Marshes, usually those with heavy grass cover. On the Gulf coast of the southern United States often winters in rice fields.

[edit] Behaviour

Very secretive, most easily registered by sounds given at night.

[edit] Vocalisation

The call is likened to the noise made by tapping together two small stones.

[edit] 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.

• List of references

[edit] External Links