- Clapper Rail
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Clapper Rail 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae Genus: Rallus Species: R. longirostris Binomial name Rallus longirostris
Boddaert, 1783The Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. Some researchers believe that this bird and the similar King Rail are a single species; the two birds are known to interbreed.
Contents
Distribution and habitat
It is found along the east coast of North America, the coasts and some islands of the Caribbean, and across northern South America to eastern Brazil. On the west coast, it breeds from central California through Mexico and south to northwestern Peru.
Despite this wide range, numbers of the Clapper Rail are now very low on the United States' west coast, because of destruction of the coastal marshland habitat. The largest population of the western subspecies, California Clapper Rail, R. l. obsoletus, numbering somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 birds,[1] is in San Francisco Bay; there is a small inland population along the Colorado River. On the US east coast, populations are stable, although the numbers of this bird have declined due to habitat loss.
Subspecies R. l. saturatus
Lakeland, FloridaDescription
The Clapper Rail is a chicken-sized bird that rarely flies. It is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and a noticeable white patch under the tail. Its bill curves slightly downwards. The Trinidadian subspecies R. l. pelodromus is more heavily marked with black above.
Behaviour
Feeding
These birds eat crustaceans, aquatic insects, and small fish. They search for food while walking, sometimes probing with their long bills, in shallow water or mud.
Breeding
The twig nest is placed low in mangrove roots, and 3-7 purple-spotted buff eggs are laid.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Rallus longirostris. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
- Rails by Taylor and van Perlo, ISBN 90-74345-20-4
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Rallus
- Birds of the United States
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of Belize
- Birds of the Caribbean
- Birds of Puerto Rico
- Birds of the Greater Antilles
- Birds of the Lesser Antilles
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
- Birds of Brazil
- Birds of Colombia
- Birds of Ecuador
- Birds of the Guianas
- Birds of Peru
- Birds of Venezuela
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