- Rallus elegans
Identification
Length: 14 inches Wingspan: 24 inches. White undertail coverts, red-brown face, neck, breast, and wing coverts, white throat, dark brown cap and hindneck, brown back feathers with tawny edges, whitish belly. Juvenile: Pale buff head and neck, back and upperwings darker than in adult with white belly.
Distribution
Eastern United States, eastern Mexico, and Cuba
Taxonomy
King Rail and Clapper Rail are closely related and are sometimes considered conspecific (belonging to the same species). Three subspecies are recognized.
Habitat
Freshwater marshes and marsh-shrub swamp habitats.
Behaviour
They make nests of grass constructed just above the water in bushes or clumps of marsh vegetation. 6 to 13 buff-coloured eggs are laid. Both sexes share in incubation and rearing responsibilities.
The diet of mainly crayfish and crabs includes fish, insects and some plant seeds.
