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Virginia Rail

Status Uncommon and local in summer, very rare in winter. Breeds. Our few spring records (first arrivals average 8 May, earliest 20 April) are probably not representative, and the species is probably more common in summer than records indicate. It is most often seen in autumn, with first reports away from breeding sites (average 12 September, earliest 24 August) suggesting that migration begins quite early. It often lingers through December and is sometimes found during Christmas Bird Counts around the province. Individuals on 19 February 1958 at West Middle Sable (H.F. Lewis), on 19 March 1967 near Wolfville (R.W. Tufts) and on several occasions through February 1975 at Russell Lake, Dartmouth (F. Lavender) probably wintered successfully, but others have been found dead during this season. A bird in juvenile plumage (apparently entirely black) was seen at Hillaton, Kings County, on 11 and 18 November 1968 (R.W. Tufts). Immatures customarily do not carry their blackish plumage beyond late summer.

Description Length: 25-27 cm. Adults: Foreneck, breast and sides cinnamon-rufous; back brownish black, the feathers broadly margined with a clay-coloured shade similar to that of breast; flanks grayish black, barred with white; cheeks slaty gray, almost black in front of eye; a buffy white line from bill over eye; bill largely red; legs reddish brown. Juveniles: Largely dull blackish gray, but wings and tail similar to adult; whitish gray chin and breast; white mixed in the underparts.

Breeding Nest: On the ground in marshlands. Composed of coarse vegetation with lining of softer materials, and usually attached to the stalks of reeds, just above the water level. Eggs: 6-12; light buff, heavily spotted with bright rufous brown. The first breeding record for Nova Scotia comes from Fred Payne, a biologist with the Department of Lands and Forests, who found a nest in Cumberland County on the Missaguash River marsh about 2 km from the New Brunswick border. It contained five well-incubated eggs on 21 June 1962. Since then, other nests or young birds have been found in the same border region; at Russell Lake, Dartmouth; and at Black River, Kings County.

Range Breeds from southern Canada south to California and North Carolina. Winters in the United States and Mexico. Additional races occur in South America.

Remarks Its call is a guttural cut-cut-cutta-cutta-cutta, repeated over and over again. This sound is likely to be heard after nightfall, coming from freshwater marshes where lush reeds predominate. Although capable of sustained flight, when startled or pressed into flight it will flutter weakly a short distance, with legs dangling, before dropping out of sight. On the ground it may be seen moving slowly along the muddy margin of a pool bordered by rushes or running lightly over the weedy surface, enabled by its amazingly long toes.