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  Profile

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  In flight

Cranes & Waders

Sora

Porzana carolina

• uncommon
• 40 km/h
• Least Concern

The most abundant rail in North America, and almost nobody sees one. Whinnies from the cattails and disappears.

Population

~4.4 million mature individuals globally (1-10 million range band per BirdLife/Partners in Flight)

Habitat

Freshwater wetlands — marshes, bogs, swamps, fens, and peatlands with dense emergent vegetation (cattails, sedges, bulrushes) and shallow water typically under 1 foot deep; not found in forests

Fun fact

Despite being a chunky, seemingly weak-flying marsh bird, the Sora migrates from Canada as far south as northern South America and is one of the most abundant rails in North America even though it is rarely seen due to its secretive marsh habits.

Range

The most abundant and widespread rail in North America; breeds across nearly all of the USA and Canada, migrates through Central America and the Caribbean to winter as far south as northern South America; extremely large range (~13.2M km² breeding, ~20.7M km² non-breeding); rare vagrant to western Europe

Diet

Omnivorous — seeds of wetland plants plus snails, crustaceans, spiders, and insects (beetles, grasshoppers, flies, dragonflies); eats more plant matter (68-69%) in fall/winter than in spring/summer (~40%)

Size

0.225 m

Wingspan

0.375 m