Rallus elegans is mostly preyed upon during the egg and juvenile stages of life. Predators of eggs and young include red fox, raccoons, mink, feral cats, and coyotes. Some adults are caught by predators such as great horned owls, northern harriers, and alligators. Rallus elegans coloration allows for it to be well camouflaged from predators. It also can puff up and flutter around in the brush to try and scare off potential predators.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Rallus elegans is a very visual and acoustic communicator. This rail relies heavily on acoustic communication to communicate with mates and other rails. Rallus elegans gives a wide variety of calls although due to it's secretive nature and dense habitat, associated behaviors are poorly understood. Most vocalizations are dry, clicking sounds mnemonically described as 'kik-kik-kik' or a rolling 'chur-ur-ur'. Amount of vocalizations increases during the breeding season, suggesting there is an important vocal element to courtship. Rallus elegans uses postures and tail movements to communicate mating interest or aggression. When pursuing a mate, male R. elegans may crouch low to the ground, flare the tail feathers or hold the tail vertically. Males also crouch to ward off territory intruders and will eventually aerially attack a persistent threat. Like most bird species, R. elegans perceives it's environment through visual, auditory, tactile, and chemical stimuli.
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Rallus elegans is a species of concern according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. In many individual states, especially in the northern range such as the states of Michigan and Minnesota, R. elegans is listed as endangered. This is primarily due to human-induced habitat destruction, as wetlands are rapidly shrinking or disappearing across their range.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix i
State of Michigan List: endangered
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known negative effects of Rallus elegans on humans.
There are no known negative effects of king rails on humans.
Rallus elegans is considered a game bird in much of the southern United States from Texas to Delaware. Though few rails are harvested, bag limits in some states are up to 15 per day.
Rallus elegans serves as both predator and prey in marsh ecosystems. Due to its heavy reliance on crayfish, R. elegans likely has a significant effect on local populations.
Rallus elegans is considered an omnivore, but mainly feeds on crustaceans, fish and insects. Occasionally it will feed on plants or seeds. Water is very important to R. elegans, because even if its food has come from land it will dunk it in water before consuming it. The bill and legs of R. elegans are specialized for probing and foraging in water. Common prey items include crayfish, red-jointed fiddler crabs, clams, perch, and aquatic beetles.
Animal Foods: fish; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; aquatic crustaceans
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; seeds, grains, and nuts
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats non-insect arthropods)
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Rallus elegans prefers permanent fresh water marshes in the Midwest, although it uses brackish wetlands elsewhere. Grasses, sedges, rushes and cattails are important cover types. They are typically found in in rice fields in the southern United States and rarely along roadside ditches. Rallus elegans is also found in coastal regions that contain salt water marshes.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial ; saltwater or marine ; freshwater
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland
Aquatic Biomes: coastal ; brackish water
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp ; bog
Other Habitat Features: riparian ; estuarine
Rallus elegans typically lives 5 to 9 years in the wild. Limits to the lifespan of R. elegans include predation, farming practices, wetland destruction and impacts from vehicles.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 5 to 9 years.
Rallus elegans is a large, slender, rust-colored marsh bird with a long bill and long toes. It is the largest North American rail. Rallus elegans features an olive-brown upper body, reddish-brown breast and black-and-white barred flanks. Its tail is short and often lifted up. Females and males are similar, females generally are smaller than males. Females, on average weigh 11 to 13 ounces while males, on average, weigh 12 ounces.
Rallus elegans chicks are downy and black in coloration. They can be confused for black rails (Laterallus jamaicensis), but R. elegans have dark (not red) eyes, a white bill and lack spotting on their backs. Juveniles are similar to adults, but markings are indistinguishable with variable amounts of black on their sides.
Virgina rails (Rallus limicola) occur in the same habitats, are gray-cheeked, smaller versions of R. elegans and lack the extensive barring on the sides of R. elegans. Clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) are also similar to R. elegans in appearance, but are smaller and have dull black-and-white stripes on the flanks.
Range mass: 280 to 504 g.
Range length: 38.1 to 48.26 cm.
Range wingspan: 53.34 to 63.5 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; male larger
Currently, all evidence suggests Rallus elegans is a monogamous species. Male Rallus elegans utilize several courtship displays to attract a mate. Male courtship behaviors include strutting with tail held vertically, exposing the white under tail coverts, tail flicking or fanning, and a "pursuit display" where the male hunches over low to the ground and follows a female. In some populations, courtship feeding has been observed where a male presents a female with crayfish or crabs. Males also give courtship calls during any display except a pursuit display. Pairs uphold a monogamous relationship throughout the breeding season, but birds become solitary during the non-breeding periods. Pair fidelity from year to year is currently unknown.
Mating System: monogamous
The nesting season of Rallus elegans begins in early March and lasts until early September with the peak of activity occurring between April 15 and July 1. Nests are a platform of vegetation with a depression in the center, a canopy of nearby vegetation, and occasionally a ramp. After copulation, the female lays one egg per day into the nest. This is done until a clutch of 6 to 14 eggs is reached. The incubation period lasts an average of 22 days. Each of the young are precocial, meaning they are capable of following the mother around shortly after birth. The young's first flight occurs approximately 63 days after birth.
Breeding interval: King rails breed once yearly.
Breeding season: The breeding season for king rails occurs from April through July.
Range eggs per season: 6 to 14.
Average time to hatching: 22 days.
Average fledging age: 63 days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Both parents exhibit parental care for the young, however the female generally is present more often than the male. Rallus elegans males are aggressive defenders of their territory and will chase out other Rallus elegans males, as well as males of other rail species. Males are also the primary participants in nest construction. Both parents take turns incubating the clutch. Once the young are born, both parents still care for the young, but the female is present more often. Hatchling R. elegans are precocial at hatching, and quickly leave the nest to follow their parents and learn how to care for themselves. The young are fed by both parents from 1 to 3 weeks of age. During this time, the young learn how to gather food from watching their parents and are capable of foraging on their own at 4 to 6 weeks old. Parents remain with their brood until they are at least 30 days old.
Parental Investment: precocial ; male parental care ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
A large (15-19 inches) rail, the King Rail is most easily identified by its mottled brown back, rusty neck, streaked flanks, and dark brown face patch near the eye. This species may be separated from the similarly-colored Virginia Rail (Rallus limnicola) by that species’ much smaller size, and from the similarly-sized Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) by that species’ paler body and grayer face. Male and female King Rails are similar to one another in all seasons. The King Rail breeds across much of the eastern United States and southern Canada, being absent only from New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and the upper Midwest. Northerly-breeding populations migrate south to the coastal southeast in winter, whereas southern- and coastal-breeding populations are non-migratory. Other non-migratory populations exist in Cuba and central Mexico. King Rails breed in a variety of marshland habitats in areas of fresh or brackish water, utilizing similar habitat types during the winter. As this species avoids pure saltwater, it experiences limited competition with the Clapper Rail, which favors saltwater marshes. King Rails primarily eat small invertebrates, such as insects and crustaceans. In appropriate habitat, King Rails may be seen wading in shallow water while foraging for food on the submerged bank. If these birds are more hidden, perhaps beneath tall marsh grasses, it may still be possible to hear their call, a grating “chuck” repeated many times in succession. King Rails are primarily active during the day, although they may be heard calling at night.
A large (15-19 inches) rail, the King Rail is most easily identified by its mottled brown back, rusty neck, streaked flanks, and dark brown face patch near the eye. This species may be separated from the similarly-colored Virginia Rail (Rallus limnicola) by that species’ much smaller size, and from the similarly-sized Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) by that species’ paler body and grayer face. Male and female King Rails are similar to one another in all seasons. The King Rail breeds across much of the eastern United States and southern Canada, being absent only from New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and the upper Midwest. Northerly-breeding populations migrate south to the coastal southeast in winter, whereas southern- and coastal-breeding populations are non-migratory. Other non-migratory populations exist in Cuba and central Mexico. King Rails breed in a variety of marshland habitats in areas of fresh or brackish water, utilizing similar habitat types during the winter. As this species avoids pure saltwater, it experiences limited competition with the Clapper Rail, which favors saltwater marshes. King Rails primarily eat small invertebrates, such as insects and crustaceans. In appropriate habitat, King Rails may be seen wading in shallow water while foraging for food on the submerged bank. If these birds are more hidden, perhaps beneath tall marsh grasses, it may still be possible to hear their call, a grating “chuck” repeated many times in succession. King Rails are primarily active during the day, although they may be heard calling at night.
The king rail (Rallus elegans) is a waterbird, the largest North American rail.
Distinct features are a long bill with a slight downward curve, with adults being brown on the back and rusty-brown on the face and breast with a dark brown cap. They also have a white throat and a light belly with barred flanks. Undertail coverts are white and are displayed by the male during courtship.[2] Immature birds are covered in down,[3] with light brown on the head and darker brown on the back and wings.
This bird's call is a low repeated grunt transcribed as kek-kek-kek.[4]
This bird breeds in marshes in eastern North America. Birds along the southeastern coasts of the United States are permanent residents. Other birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico; in Canada, they are found in southern Ontario. An adult king rail will molt completely after nesting and it becomes flightless for almost a month.[7]
This bird is diurnal, contrasting with its smaller, nocturnal relatives.[3]
The nest is a raised platform built with marsh vegetation and covered by a canopy. This is to hide the eggs of this bird from predators that are searching from above.[3]
The king rail interbreeds with the clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) where their ranges overlap; some researchers believe that these two birds belong to the same species.
The king rail lays a clutch of 6 to 14 pale buff eggs with brown spotting. They usually measure 41 by 30 millimetres (1.6 by 1.2 in). Both parents incubate the eggs for 21 to 23 days. When the eggs hatch, the young are covered in down and are able to leave the nest. They are not able to feed themselves, though, and thus must rely on their parents for food for up to six weeks after they hatch.[3]
This rail forages in shallow water near cover and eats mainly aquatic insects and crustaceans. It forages by probing the mud while moving around in shallow water.[3]
The chicks are fed small arthropod prey by their parents. The prey is transferred from one parent's beak to that of the chick.[3]
Males often give food to whomever they pursue during courtship.[2][7]
These birds are still common in some coastal areas, although interior populations have declined due to habitat loss.[3] In Michigan, it is considered a legally protected state endangered species, at an imperiled level. [8]
The king rail (Rallus elegans) is a waterbird, the largest North American rail.
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