Overview
The Virginia rail has a laterally compressed body, long toes, and are mostly brown with darker color on their crown and back. It has grey cheeks, a brown to red throat and breast and black and white banded sides. The rail's bill is reddish in color, long, and slightly curved.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Rallus
- Species
- limicola
Habitat
The Virginia rail lives in freshwater and brackish marshes, sometimes salt marshes in winter.
Diet
Insects, larvae, aquatic invertebrates, fish, small snakes, and frogs.
Behavior
Virginia rails breed in the northern and western portions of the United States and in the southern prairies of Canada. The rail commonly builds dummy nests to detract predators.
Hunting
They are considered a game species in some provinces and states, though rarely hunted.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.