Clapper Rail

Rallus crepitans

Salt marsh ghost with a clattering call that sounds like a stick on a fence. Slips through reeds where no one can follow.

Population: Not numerically estimated by BirdLife/IUCN following the 2013 taxonomic split from mangrove rail and the 2014 split of Ridgway's Rail; overall population trend is listed as decreasing due to suspected loss/degradation of wetland habitat
Habitat: Coastal salt marshes (emergent grasses) as primary/almost-exclusive breeding habitat; rarely brackish marsh; in southeastern Florida also shallow mangrove swamps
Fun fact: Clapper Rails have specialized nasal salt glands that let them excrete excess salt and tolerate seawater, an adaptation that lets these "saltmarsh specialists" thrive in habitat too salty for most birds.
Range: Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the eastern/southern United States (north to Connecticut/New England, south through Florida and Texas), eastern Mexico, and the Caribbean, extending into eastern Central America; northern populations partially migratory, withdrawing south in winter. Does NOT include California — that population was reclassified as the separate Ridgway's Rail (Rallus obsoletus) in the 2014 split
Diet: Carnivore/omnivore: mainly crustaceans (fiddler crabs, crayfish), aquatic insects, small fish, mollusks, worms, and frogs, with occasional seeds; forages by walking and probing mud/shallow water with its long bill
Size: 0.37 m
Wingspan: 0.5 m
Lifespan: 7.5 years

More Cranes & Waders