King rail
| King rail | |
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| File:KingRail23.jpg | |
| Scientific classification | |
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R. elegans
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| Binomial name | |
| Rallus elegans Audubon, 1834
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The king rail (Rallus elegans) is a waterbird, the largest North American rail.
Description
Distinct features are a long bill with a slight downward curve, with adults being brown on the back and rusty-brown on the face and breast with a dark brown cap. They also have a white throat and a light belly with barred flanks. Immature birds are light brown on the head and darker brown on the back and wings.
| Standard Measurements[2][3] | |
|---|---|
| length | 15.5–19 in (390–480 mm) |
| weight | 290 g (10 oz) |
| wingspan | 19 in (480 mm) |
| wing | 159–177 mm (6.3–7.0 in) |
| tail | 56–72.5 mm (2.20–2.85 in) |
| culmen | 58–65.5 mm (2.28–2.58 in) |
| tarsus | 52–64 mm (2.0–2.5 in) |
Ecology
They breed in marshes in eastern North America. The nest is a raised platform built with marsh vegetation and covered by a canopy. The king rail interbreeds with the clapper rail where their ranges overlap; some researchers believe that these two birds belong to the same species.
Nonmigratory birds located in central and western Mexico have now been split as Aztec rail.[4]
Birds along the southeastern coasts of the United States are permanent residents. Other birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico; in Canada, they are found in southern Ontario.
These birds forage in shallow water near cover and mainly eat aquatic insects and crustaceans.
These birds are still common in some coastal areas, although interior populations have declined due to habitat loss.
This bird's call is a low repeated grunt transcribed as kek-kek-kek.[5]
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rallus elegans. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Rallus elegans |
- BirdLife species factsheet for Rallus elegans
- Rallus elegans on Avibase
- King rail videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
- King rail photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- King rail species account at NeotropicalBirds (Cornell University)
- Pages with broken file links
- IUCN Red List near threatened species
- Commons category link is locally defined
- Rallus
- Birds of Canada
- Birds of Cuba
- Birds of Jamaica
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of the United States
- Eastern North American migratory birds
- Native birds of Central Mexico
- Native birds of Eastern Mexico
- Native birds of the Eastern United States
- Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
- Near threatened fauna of North America
- Near threatened fauna of the United States
- Vulnerable biota of Mexico
- Animals described in 1834
