WatchList Species Account
for Clapper Rail (Rallus
longirostris)
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| Photo: Ashok Khosla |
The Clapper Rail is found
in predominantly in salt marshes and mangrove swamps; it
varies greatly throughout its range, with many recognized
subspecies, some of which in the western U.S. are listed
as endangered. In eastern North America, it is found along
the coast from Massachusetts to the Florida Keys and throughout
the Gulf Coast to a few miles south of the mouth of the
Rio Grande in Tamaulipis, Mexico. Isolated and endangered
subspecies are found around San Francisco and San Pablo
Bays, California, and in freshwater marshes in the lower
Colorado and lower Gila rivers in California and Arizona.
It is also found in the Bahamas and Greater Antilles and
several other West Indian islands, in addition to some coastal
sites in western Mexico in parts of northern South America,
as far south as Peru. Its range in Mexico and Central and
South America is poorly known. Most populations are nonmigratory,
with the exception of migratory populations from southern
New England to central North Carolina. At some sites along
the Atlantic Coast of the U.S., the bird is abundant. Where
their ranges overlap, it sometimes hybridizes in brackish
marshes with the King Rail. Habitat in the eastern U.S.
typically has emergents and scattered shrubs along ditches
or tidal creeks; habitat elsewhere is marsh dominated by
emergent plants such as cat-tails, bulrushes, and sedges.
Presence of emergent cover is apparently a key factor for
the bird. Its diet is varied, including crabs and other
crustaceans, insects, small invertebrates, seeds, and other
bird’s eggs. The species is subject to hunting in
the eastern U.S. but the number of hunters is small and
rails are difficult to hunt. On the basis of limited survey
data, populations of the species do not seem to have declined,
other than those of the endangered western subspecies. The
population in San Francisco Bay has declined considerably,
due largely to predation by introduced rats and red foxes.
Populations elsewhere on the California coast have benefited
from control of red floxes and domestic cats. Habitat degradation
and destruction along the coast is also a threat to the
bird. Information about the bird’s distribution outside
the U.S. is needed.
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