Clapper Rail
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| ?Clapper Rail Conservation status: Least concern |
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| Rallus longirostris Boddaert, 1783 |
The Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. It is found along the east coast of North America, the coasts and some islands of the Caribbean, and across northern South Americato 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 something under 3000 birds, is in San Francisco Bay; there is a small inland population along the Colorado River. On the US east coasts, populations are stable, although the numbers of this bird have declined due to habitat loss.
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.
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.
The twig nest is placed low in mangrove roots, and 3-7 purple-spotted buff eggs are laid.
Some researchers believe that this bird and the similar King Rail are a single species; the two birds are known to interbreed.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Rallus longirostris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. 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
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
- Rails by Taylor and van Perlo, ISBN 90-74345-20-4
