Black Rail

Black Rail

Black Rail: Smallest North American rail, mostly dark gray or nearly black with white-speckled back, belly, flanks. Nape and upper back are chestnut-brown. Eyes are red. Eats seeds of aquatic plants, grasses and grains, insects and small marine crustaceans. Weak fluttering flight with legs dangling.

● Song: "kic-kee-doo", "kic-kic-kerr"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black Rail: Feeds on seeds of aquatic plants, grass, insects, and isopods (small crustaceans).

● Breeding & nesting: Black Rail: Four to thirteen brown-spotted, pale pink to white eggs are laid in a deep cup of finely woven soft grass, sedges, or other available vegetation. Nest is usually concealed in a clump of green grass, with grass arched over so it is hidden. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 28 days. Sometimes produces two broods per year.

● Similar species: Black Rail: Resembles chick of other rails, which lack white spots on upperparts and bars on flanks.

Flight Pattern