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Clapper Rail

Rallus longirostrisOrder: GRUIFORMESFamily: Rails and Coots (Rallidae)

Clapper Rail Portrait
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General

Clapper Rail: Large, noisy marsh bird with gray or brown upperparts, vertical white-barred flanks and belly, and buff or rust-brown breast. Bill is long and slightly decurved. Eastern population has buff underparts. Gulf coast and western populations have rust-brown underparts. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is more uniformly colored.

Range and Habitat

Clapper Rail: Breeds along Atlantic, Gulf, and California coasts; spends winters north to central California and New Jersey. Preferred habitats include coastal saltwater marshes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"he-e-eh-heh-heh-heh", "chack-chack-chack"

Interesting Facts

  • The rattling call of the Clapper Rail is one of the most common sounds in the marshes. Nesting pairs enhance their pair bond by blending their clatter until they sound like one bird. Biologists refer to this is as a “duet”.
  • Common in the East, the subspecies that inhabits California is endangered. They have never recovered from the hunting pressure of the gold rush era and have suffered tremendously from loss of habitat and non-native predators such as the Norway rat and feral cats.
  • In 1992 the estimated population of the California subspecies was only 240 birds. Due to efforts on behalf of the bird today they number over 1000.
  • A group of clapper rails are collectively known as an "applause", "audience", and "commercial" of rails.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Clapper Rail
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Rail (Rallidae)_blue
Species Rallus longirostris
Length14 - 16 Inches
Wingspan20 Inches

Clapper Rail

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. Flight is low and fluttering over short distances.

● Song: "he-e-eh-heh-heh-heh", "chack-chack-chack"

● Foraging & Feeding: Clapper Rail: Feeds mainly on crayfish, small crabs, small fish, frogs, slugs, snails, insects, and seeds; forages on the ground and while wading in shallow water.

● Breeding & nesting: Clapper Rail: Five to twelve brown marked, buff to olive eggs are laid in a nest made of rushes, sedges, and cord grass, and hidden in tall vegetation. Incubation ranges from 20 to 23 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Clapper Rail: King Rail is slightly larger, prefers freshwater marshes, and has red-brown head, neck and underparts, and more sharply defined bars on flanks. Virginia Rail is smaller with distinctive gray cheeks and chestnut-brown back. Juvenile resembles adult Black Rail, which has pale eyes, spots on back, and bars on flanks.

Flight Pattern

Low fluttering flight over short distances with legs dangling.
Clapper Rail Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Clapper Rail: Breeds along Atlantic, Gulf, and California coasts; spends winters north to central California and New Jersey. Preferred habitats include coastal saltwater marshes.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight11.4 Ounces