Bird Conservation
> Waterbird Conservation >
Yellow Rail
Coturnicops noveboracensis
Family: RALLIDAE
Order: Gruiformes
Spanish Common Name: Polluela amarilla, Gallineta amarilla, Polluela amarillenta
French Common Name: Râle jaune
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |
Courtesy Kenn Kaufman |
|
Conservation Status
Global Population: 17,500
Continental Population: Between 10,000 and 17,500
Watchlist Status: 
Audubon State of the Birds Status: Unknown population trend; species of highest conservation concern
The small Yellow Rail is known for its elusive ways; much of its life history remains unknown. In wet meadows and grassy fresh and salt water marshes, this relative of coots and cranes stays close to the ground and prefers to run, rather than fly from threats. The Yellow Rails' migration, wintering, and breeding habitats have been shrinking. With an estimated global population of only 17,500 individuals, conservation efforts have focused on saving the bird's habitat.
Range & Distribution
The Yellow Rail breeds from the Canadian Maritimes to the wetlands of the northern Great Plains, including parts of the upper Midwest. Around Saint John's Bay, Canada, this rail was common as recently as 2004. There is a small isolated breeding colony in Oregon's Klamath Basin. The bird's wintering grounds extend from the coast of North Carolina through Florida, and into the Gulf Coast of southern Texas.
A legend for the range map to the right can be found here.
Population Status & Trends
Recent population trends are difficult to determine, due to the Yellow Rail's secretive behavior and scattered populations.
Conservation Issues & Efforts
The loss of grassy wetlands to commercial development, the degradation of coastal marshes, and the difficulty of monitoring Yellow Rail populations have prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to regard this tiny waterbird as a Species of Conservation Concern. The USFWS has also listed the Yellow Rail as a Focal Species—a new designation initiated in 2005 to reflect an urgent conservation need, and a realistic chance of restoration success, with the potential to positively affect other species. Canada also regards this rail as a Species at Risk. In the summer of 2002, surveyors located over 200 male Yellow Rails around the southeastern end of Canada's St. James Bay. The protection of such rich wetlands is important to the survival of the Yellow Rail. Conservation efforts have focused on habitat management and preservation; additional efforts, along with basic research on the Yellow Rail's natural history, are needed.
What You Can Do
With patience and respect for their fragile habitat, look and listen for the Yellow Rail on its breeding grounds in the damp meadows of Canada and the northern U.S.
Support efforts to limit development in critical wetlands and to restrict access during the breeding period.
Support conservation easements, controlled burns and water level management; all can be effective tools for managing land to benefit Yellow Rails.
For more actions you can take, including Audubon activities, please visit our resources page.
For More Information
References
Bookhout, T. A. 1995. Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 139 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Kaufman, Kenn. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1996.
Robert, M., et al. "Yellow Rail Distribution and Numbers in Southern James Bay, Quebec, Canada." Waterbirds 27:3 Sep 2004) pp. 282-288.
Robert, M., P. Laporte, and R. Benoit. "Summer Habitat of Yellow Rails, Coturnicops noveboracensis, along the St. Lawrence River, Quebec." Canadian Field-Naturalist 114:4 9 Oct-Dec 2000, pp. 628-635.
Sibley, David Allen. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
|
