Overview
The black rail is the smallest rail in North America, it is blackish in color with a black bill.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Laterallus
- Species
- jamaicensis
Habitat
Coastal salt marshes, also in some freshwater marshes. It is extinct or threatened in many locations due to habitat loss.
Diet
Small invertebrates, seeds.
Behavior
The black rail is rarely seen and prefers running in the cover of the dense marsh vegetation to flying. This rail is territorial during the breeding season, and occasionally males will mate with two or more females. The nests of this bird are placed on the ground, in dense, swampy vegetation or in patches of flooded grass. The nests are bowl-shaped and built with vegetation loosely woven. The clutch of this bird usually consists of six to eight creamy white speckled, with reddish-brown spots, eggs. These eggs are roundish and measure around 23 by 17 millimetres (0.91 by 0.67 in). They are incubated by both parents, taking shifts of approximately one hour each, for 16 to 20 days. The precocial young then hatch. These young can, within a day of hatching, leave the nest and swim.
Hunting
More information needed.
Conservation Status
Listed as Near Threatened by IUCN.