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Appearance
15-19 inches. Head, neck, shoulders and underparts rusty brown. Flanks barred black and white while back is mottled brown.
Food
Crustaceans, insects,grain and berries.
Habits and Breeding
The King Rail lives in freshwater marshes and can also be found in roadside ditches . During the fall and winter, it may be found in salt marshes. Sometimes breeds with Clapper Rail when fresh and saltwater marshes occur side-by-side. It is possible that they are the same species.
The nest is a deep bowl of grass often with surrounding plants woven into a dome above. It is built on a hummock above the water and is mostly built by the male. The female lays 8-11 buff eggs spotted with brown and the male helps her incubate them for 21 days.
Birds of North America, Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi, Book of North American Birds and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region.
Appearance
8-10 inches. A very secretive, chicken-looking bird. The Sora is brown streaked above and grey below with a black and white striped undertail. The head has a dark crown with a black face and central breast. The bill and legs are yellow.
In winter the grey edges on face and throat may hide the black markings.
Food
The Sora feeds both in the water and on the ground, primarily on aquatic insects and weed seeds.
Habits and Breeding
Marshes are the Sora's habitat, preferably freshwater or brackish marshes to breed in. The nest is a cup of vegetation attached to a sapling or other heavier structure and holds 8-15 layers of buffy, brown-spotted eggs laid in 2 or 3 layers. Both parents incubate the eggs for 16-20 days. Sora may have 2 broods in a year as the young are ready to leave the nest in 21-25 days.
Birds of North America, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, and Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.
Appearance
15 inches. Slate-colored, duck-like bird with white bill and frontal shield. The frontal shield has a red swelling at the upper edge that can be seen at close range. There is a partial ring around the tip of the bill. The trailing edge of the wing is white and the outer feathers of the undertail coverts is as well. The toes of the American Coot are lobed, but not webbed.
Food
The American Coot feeds much like a duck, tipping in the water to reach food and grazing on land. It eats seeds, leaves, roots and small aquatic animals as well as grass and waste grain. They will often become tame when fed scraps and pieces of bread.
Habits and Breeding
The American Coot is the most aquatic member of its family. It summers on marshy lakes and open ponds and winters on the coasts. The male will defend his territory by charging at intruders or running across the water at them. While courting, the male may chase the female while flapping his wings or he may swim after her with his head and neck close to the water and his wings and tail raised to display the white patches.
The building of the nest begins after the vegetation is high enough to conceal the structure. The nest is a platform of stems lined with finer, softer material and placed on a floating mass of vegetation which is attached to surrounding stems in 1-4 feet of water. Up to 9 nests may be made before the female chooses one, sometimes even one made by another bird. The eggs usually number 8-12 and are pinkish buff with dark marks. Both parents incubate the eggs for 21-25 days and the young are ready to leave the nest at 49-56 days.
Birds of North America, Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region and Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.
Appearance
6-8 inches. Another chicken-looking bird. Wide dark streaks on back with fine white barring. Mostly buff and brown with yellow legs and bill. Smudgy dark mark across eye. Undertail coverts banded. White patch on trailing edge of inner wing, mostly seen when in flight. Hard to flush from cover.
Food
Feeds in shallow water on snails, insects and some seeds and grasses.
Habits and Breeding
A rare and rarely seen bird, the yellow rail prefers flooded areas or marshy grasslands with some drier areas in them. This is known as one of the most secretive of all North American birds. They breed in areas of dense vegetaion in May and June. The nest is a neat cup of grasses, well concealed and canopied and few inches above the water or on the ground. The 8-9 buffy eggs have a ring of red-brown spots at the larger end. The female incubates them for 16-18 days and the young are ready to leave the nest in 35 days.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi, Birds of North America, and Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.
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