Although "thin as a rail" refers to the rail of a fence, it aptly describes the Virginia Rail, whose narrow body allows easy passage through the thick vegetation found in fresh and salt water wetlands. Like other rails, the Virginia Rail has large feet for walking over soggy ground, and claw-like appendages at the bend of wing for clambering. This rail prefers not to be seen and rarely vocalizes outside the breeding season.

The Virginia Rail breeds from the west coast of the United States throughout the upper Midwest and lower Canada, to the mid-Atlantic Coast, and north into the Canadian Maritimes. Wintering birds range along the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey, throughout most of Florida, and around the Gulf Coast through central Mexico. Virginia Rails also winter along the Pacific Coast, at scattered locations throughout the west, and from central Arizona southward.

 

A legend for the range map to the right can be found here.

Virginia Rails are secretive and notoriously difficult to survey, so few numbers are encountered on monitoring routes, and the bird's precise status is not known. Strong increases in population numbers have been shown in both BBS and CBC data over the last 40 years, but these increases have not made up for 300 years of wetlands habitat loss. The Marsh Monitoring Program, supported by Canada and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, may offer an additional source of population trends data, but is currently limited to regional surveys.

 

An explanation of the Annual Indices graph displayed to the right can be found here.

Although widespread and fairly common in some locations, the Virginia Rail appears to have declined overall since the early 1900s, due in part to habitat destruction and pesticide use. Losses are most acute in the Midwest, where Indiana lists the Virginia Rail as endangered. Pennsylvania and Ohio recognize it as a "species of conservation concern."

 

Since this rail is considered a game bird by 31 states, more information is needed to assess the effects of hunting pressure, particularly when combined with habitat loss and pesticide impacts. Specific management practices have yet to be prescribed, but should include the preservation of emergent vegetation near shallow water, stricter regulation of pesticides and heavy metals, and uniform restrictions on hunting.

Visit a local wetland to look and listen for the Virginia Rail in late spring and early summer.

 

Join local efforts to preserve wetlands. Important Bird Areas (IBAs) provide a good starting point.

 

Virginia Rails breed in small marshes with emergent vegetation. If you own such land, consider managing this precious resource for the benefit of wildlife like the Virginia Rail. A conservation easement, arranged by your local land trust, might be the best tool for your goal.

 

For additional actions you can take, including Audubon activities, please visit our resources page.

To learn more about IBAs and how you can help protect them in, visit Audubon's National IBA website.

 

To learn more about land preservation, visit the Land Trust Alliance.

 

Visit our resources page for more information about this species.

Conway, C. J. 1995. Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola). In The Birds of North America, No. 173 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

 

Ivey, G. L., and C. P. Herziger. 2006. Intermountain West Waterbird Conservation Plan, Version 2.1. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Region, Portland, Oregon.

 

Kaufman, Kenn. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1996.

 

Sibley, David Allen. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.