The Virginia Rail can be found locally in its wetland habitat throughout the northern and western United States, SW Ontario, S British Columbia, and S Quebec. Its wintering range includes Mexico, all of Florida, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: BREEDS: locally from southern British Columbia to Newfoundland, south to northwestern Baja California, southern Arizona, west-central Texas, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina; also Louisiana, central Mexico, and South America. NORTHERN WINTER: southern British Columbia to northern Baja California and north to the Gulf Coast and North Carolina.

The Virginia Rail is a small, reddish bird with grey cheeks. The bill is also reddish and is long and slightly downward curving. The Rail has a short, upturned tail with a banded black and white flank below. Males and females are very similar and cannot be sexed in the field.

Length: 24 cm

Weight: 89 grams

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater

Rails perfer freshwater marshes and wetlands. The most important features of their habitat include shallow water, an emergent cover of cattails and bulrushes, and a high invertebrate abundance in the water. They forage in standing water, moist soil, and mudflats.

Terrestrial Biomes: forest

Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds

Comments: Freshwater and occasionally brackish marshes, mostly in cattails, reeds, and deep grasses (AOU 1983), also in or close to other emergent vegetation. Inhabits shallow, freshwater, emergent wetlands of every size and type, from roadside ditches and borders of lakes and streams to large cattail marshes (Brewer et al. 1991). Capable of using very small marshes (e.g., 5 nests have been found in a half-acre marsh) (see Brewer et al. 1991). Interspersion of open water and vegetation is an important habitat component (Brewer et al. 1991). Also occurs in salt marshes during the nonbreeding season (Cogswell 1977).

Nests in dense marsh vegetation over water, or in rank vegetation next to water; nest usually is less than 30 cm above water level. Often nests in vegetation next to open water. NON-BREEDING: In southern Canada overwinters in ice-free, spring-fed wetlands (Cannings et al. 1987).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Arrives in northern breeding areas generally in April-May, departs by October-November (Bent 1926); in Michigan, most have departed by mid-October (Brewer et al. 1991). May make local migrations in the Pacific states, generally extensive migrations elsewhere.

Using its long, curved bill, the Virginia Rail probes the muddy soils and shallow waters of its habitat for food. It most often consumes small aquatic invertebrates, such as beetles, spiders, snails, and true bugs. In the winter, when these foods are less available, it also eats aquatic plants and seeds.

Comments: Eats insects, worms, crustaceans, and other invertebrates, seeds of aquatic plants (especially in fall), duckweed, and occasionally small fishes. Preferred prey includes predaceous diving beetles, water scavenger beetles, flies, and snails (see Brewer et al. 1991). Probes into mud with bill, often among or next to vegetation adjacent to open water. (Terres 1980, Cogswell 1977).

In Arizona, annual survival probability was 0.53; all documented mortality occurred between October and March (Conway et al. 1994).

Pairs are thought to be monogamous. Either males or females may initiate bond formation, which spans a period of one or two weeks. During this time, pairs engage in mutual preening, courtship feeding, copulation, and defense of territory. Nests are built in May. Both the male and female build the nest, which is located in marshes containing cattails and bulrushes. A canopy is often built above the nest by bending and weaving adjacent vegetation. Along with the nest, numerous "dummy" nests are built within their territory. Clutch size varies greatly with geography, but the average size seems to be 8-9 eggs. Both sexes incubate, and the young hatch about 19 days after incubation begins. Young are covered with black down and development progresses rapidly; young begin to run down the nest ramp to drink and swim only 11 hours after hatching.

Lays clutch of 5-12 eggs, April-June on the U.S. West Coast, May to June or July in the middle Atlantic and northern states. Incubation lasts about 19-20 days, by both sexes. Young leave nest soon after hatching, tended by both parents. Black downy chicks have been observed as late as August in Michigan (Brewer et al. 1991). Cornell Nest Record Program records indicate a nest success rate of 0.53 (Conway et al. 1994).

Although the Virginia Rail is a registered game species in most of the United States and Canada, it is rarely harvested by hunters. Degradation of its wetland habitat may have caused a decrease in populations. No special regulations have been made for the Rail, but general waterfowl management regulations have proven beneficial to its wetland environment. The species population is now considered stable. This observation may or may not be accurate, since these rails have not been studied extensively.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B,N5N : N5B: Secure - Breeding, N5N: Secure - Nonbreeding

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Comments: Habitat loss has contributed to population declines; some of the habitat loss is due to drying of wetlands caused by drought (Conway et al. 1994).

Management Requirements: See Eddleman et al. (1988) for information on managing waterfowl areas in a way that is compatible with rail conservation.

Approximately 100,000 rails are harvested annually in the United States and Canada through hunting.

Comments: The form occurring in Colombia and Ecuador is considered a distinct species (Rallus aequatorialis, Ecuadorian Rail) by some authorities (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001).