An adult Black Rail captured to be banded, and then released. Read the story here. Photo: William Widmer
Laterallus jamaicensis
| Conservation status | Has probably declined in most parts of North American range, drastically so in upper midwest. Loss of habitat is main threat. Where habitat is protected, numbers probably stable. |
|---|---|
| Family | Rails, Gallinules, Coots |
| Habitat | Tidal marshes and salicornia on coast; grassy marshes inland. Favors very shallow water, or damp soil with scattered puddles. In coastal marsh, upper limits of highest tides; inland, mostly wet meadows. Found in dense stands of spartina and other grasses, salicornia, rushes, sedges. |
Foraging behavior poorly known. Although the birds often call late at night, they apparently feed mostly by day while walking through marsh.
3-13, usually 6-8. White to pale buff, dotted with brown. Eastern race may tend to lay more eggs than western race. Incubation is by both sexes, 17-20 days. Young: Downy young leave nest within a day after hatching. Both parents probably care for young and feed them; details of development of young and age at first flight not well known.
Downy young leave nest within a day after hatching. Both parents probably care for young and feed them; details of development of young and age at first flight not well known.
Insects, snails, seeds. Probably a generalized feeder on small items in its habitat. Feeds on wide variety of insects, including aquatic beetles. Also eats spiders, snails, small crustaceans. Eats many seeds of bulrush and other marsh plants, especially in winter.
Nesting behavior not thoroughly studied. Nest site is usually a couple of inches above ground or shallow water in a clump of vegetation, often at a spot slightly higher than surrounding marsh. Nest is a well-constructed cup of marsh plant material, usually with a domed top woven over it. A ramp of dead vegetation leads from nest entrance down to ground. Adults may continue to add to nest, building it up to higher level, in areas where nest might be threatened by high tides.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
The restoration of the Sonoma Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area not only corrects problems of the past, but also looks to the future.
This year brought unprecedented challenges, but Audubon and its supporters still achieved important victories to help protect both birds and people.
After decades of declining populations and habitat loss, the elusive subspecies is now listed under the Endangered Species Act.
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