Black rail

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Black rail
Black rail in Maranhão, Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Laterallus
Species:
L. jamaicensis
Binomial name
Laterallus jamaicensis
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
  Breeding
  Year-round
  Non-breeding

The black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is a mouse-sized member of the rail family

Rallidae
that occurs in both North and South America.

Taxonomy

Eastern black rail (L. j. jamaicensis) caught for a scientific banding project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, United States

The black rail was

type locality.[7]

There are five recognized subspecies:[6]

  • California rail, L. j. coturniculus (Ridgway, 1874) – found in both fresh and salt water marshes of California and Arizona, and is a resident species. The California rail can be distinguished from other subspecies by its shorter bill, and brown crown and upper back.[8] The California Fish and Game Commission listed  L. j. coturniculus as Threatened in 1971 due to loss of wetland habitat.[9]   
  • Eastern black rail, L. j. jamaicensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – found in eastern North America, the Caribbean, and Central America. Nicknamed the "feathered mouse",
    Endangered Species Act in October 2020.[10] The eastern black rail can be differentiated from other subspecies by its gray crown and light brown nape.[8]
  • L. j. murivagans (Riley, 1916) – found in coastal Peru. This subspecies is overall paler, with white bars in the undertail coverts, distinguishing it from other subspecies. There is little information available on this subspecies.[8]
  • L. j. salinasi (Philippi, 1857) – found in central Chile and adjacent parts of Argentina, and is the southernmost subspecies. On average, this subspecies is larger than the other subspecies. This subspecies can be distinguished from the others by the large rufus patch on the upper back.[8]
  • Andean highlands of Peru. The Junin Rail is considered Endangered because of habitat loss within its limited range. The Junín rail can be distinguished from other subspecies by its plain undertail coverts and pale legs.[8]

Their taxonomy is in need of a review. Especially the Junin rail has a distinctive plumage and is often considered a separate species (rather than a subspecies of the black rail), but its voice, while showing some differences, generally resembles that of the two other South American subspecies, L. j. murivagans and L. j. salinasi.[11][12] However, their voices are quite distinct from the voices of black rails of North America. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the Galapagos crake, another member of the black rail species complex, has a voice that resembles that of the South American black rails.[11] Genetic data is lacking for most members of the complex, except the Galapagos crake which diverged from the North American black rail about 1.2 million years ago.[13]

Description

The black rail is a small black bird with a short bill. Black rails usually weigh 29-39 g, are 10-15 cm in length, and have a wingspan of 8.7-11.0 in (22-28 cm).[14] The body is dark, with white speckles along the back and wings. Both the beak and legs are dark. Adults have a red eye that appears around 3 months of age.[8]

It will often make its presence known by its voice. In North America, it has a distinctive ki-ki-krr call or an aggressive, presumably territorial, growl. This is primarily uttered during the night, when these birds are most vocal.[15] The peak of vocalization is during the first two weeks of May, when breeding and courtship behaviors are also at their peak.[16] The South American subspecies have a quite different voice.[11]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in scattered parts of North America, the Caribbean, and South America, usually in coastal salt marshes but also in some freshwater marshes. The most suitable habitat to find the Black Rail is within the

marsh-hay cordgrass, which is favored by the Black Rail.[17] It is extinct or threatened in many locations due to habitat loss. The largest populations in North America are in Florida and California
.

Behaviour and ecology

The black rail is rarely seen and prefers running in the cover of the dense marsh vegetation to flying.

Breeding

This rail is territorial during the breeding season, and occasionally males will mate with two or more females.[15] The nests of this bird are placed on the ground, in dense, swampy vegetation or in patches of flooded grass. The nests are bowl-shaped and built with vegetation loosely woven.[15]

The

precocial
young then hatch.

In 2015, the first ever breeding by black rails in South Carolina was captured through a  camera study. This species was once thought to be a non-breeding visitor to the state.[18]

Food and feeding

The black rail is an opportunistic feeder and consumes a wide range of food. Its diet includes seeds, insects, crustaceans and mollusks. The black rail forages by feeding along the water lines after high and low tide.[16]

Threats

Under the IUCN Red List, the black rail is listed as endangered with decreasing populations. The IUCN estimates there are between 28,000 and  92,000 mature individuals remaining. The largest threats to the Black Rail are habitat destruction and severe weather events.[19]

The wetland habitat that the black rail depends on has steadily declined through the last several decades, due to draining for development and conversion to agricultural land.[9]  

In addition to declining populations and increasing threats, the black rail is also impacted by the lack of scientific studies available. Because of the secretive and hard to observe nature of the bird, there is very little known about them to help prevent population decline.  

They are preyed upon by many

mammalian
(foxes and cats) predators, and rely on the cover of thick marsh vegetation for protection. High tides are a dangerous time for black rails, as they are quite vulnerable to predation outside the marsh.

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22692353A154165751.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. pp. 718–719.
  3. ^ Edwards, George (1760). Gleanings of Natural History, Exhibiting Figures of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, Plants &c. Vol. 2. London: Printed for the author. pp. 142–143, Plate 278.
  4. ^ Browne, Patrick (1756). The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. London: Printed for the author, and sold by T. Osborne and J. Shipton. p. 479.
  5. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 120.
  6. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  7. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  8. ^ a b c d e f Eddleman, W.R.; Flores, R.E.; Legare, M. (2020). Poole, A.F.; Gill, F.B. (eds.). "Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis), version 1.0". Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  9. ^
    ISSN 1546-2366
    .
  10. ^ a b Loller, Travis (October 7, 2020). "Elusive eastern black rail threatened by rising sea levels". Associated Press.
  11. ^
    South American Classification Committee
    . 1 July 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  12. doi:10.1017/S0959270916000599
    .
  13. ISSN 1424-2818
    .
  14. ^ "Black Rail Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-226-05781-1
    .
  16. ^ a b "Wildlife Field Guide for New Jersey's Endangered and Threatened Species - Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey". www.conservewildlifenj.org. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  17. ^ "CODEBREAKERS: How to Find the Elusive Black Rail". aba.org. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  18. S2CID 198258859
    .
  19. S2CID 243643160
    .

External links
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