Clapper Rail

Status Very rare vagrant. Two specimens mentioned by Piers (1894) were taken near Lawrencetown, Halifax County: one about 10 May 1892 and the other during October 1893. Subsequent records, all of single birds, are: at Sable River, Shelburne County, on 2 September 1957 (S.M. Chivers); on Brier Island on 24 September 1957 (J. Comer, W. Lent and W.J. Mills); at Glace Bay Bird Sanctuary on 2 December 1967 (A.J. Erskine); on Cape Sable on 17 December 1970 (B.J. and S. Smith); at Grand Desert, Halifax County, on 5 December 1971 (photographed by D.W. Finch); in Dartmouth on 20 November 1973 (R. Melanson); on the Broad Cove, Lunenburg County, Christmas Bird Count on 30 December 1973 (several observers); a very tame individual foraging in debris around the docks on Seal Island, from 26 October to 5 November (photographed by B. Mactavish and S.J. Tingley); and on the Broad Cove Christmas Bird Count on 31 December 1976 (I.A. McLaren).

Remarks It is noteworthy that some of these birds were found around the margins of salt marshes during high tides after a period of sharp freezing; this combination of events may provide the best opportunity for finding this wanderer from the eastern seaboard of the United States.