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  Profile

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  In flight

Cranes & Waders

King Rail

Rallus elegans

• uncommon
• 42 km/h
• Near Threatened

The largest North American rail, lurking deep in freshwater marshes. Heard far more often than seen.

Population

~69,000 mature individuals (BirdLife/IUCN 2020 estimate), decreasing

Habitat

Freshwater and (locally) brackish marshes — including rice fields, flooded farmland, river margins, marsh-shrub swamp, and upland fields near marshes, with dense grasses, sedges, rushes, and cattails

Fun fact

The King Rail is the largest rail species in North America and, like other rails, becomes flightless for nearly a month during its post-breeding molt; it is also unusual among rails for being diurnal rather than nocturnal.

Range

Eastern North America: breeds from southern Ontario, Canada and the Great Lakes/Midwest south through the eastern and southern United States; southeastern U.S. coastal populations are largely resident, others migrate to the Gulf Coast, eastern Mexico, and Cuba, with a possible/historical record from Panama

Diet

Largely carnivorous — crayfish, crabs (including fiddler crabs), aquatic insects, small fish, clams, and other invertebrates, with occasional seeds and plant matter; known to dunk land-caught food in water before eating it

Size

0.43 m

Wingspan

0.58 m

Lifespan

9 years