Clapper Rail

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