Clapper Rail

The Clapper Rail is a large, chicken-sized rail of coastal salt marshes, with grayish-brown to olive-brown upperparts, pale grayish or cinnamon-tinged underparts, and boldly barred black-and-white flanks. Its bill is long, slightly downcurved, and orange at the base.

Well camouflaged for life among dense cordgrass, it is more often heard than seen, its loud clattering call carrying across the marsh at dawn and dusk.

Key field marks

• Large size for a rail
• Long, slightly downcurved, orange-based bill
• Drab grayish-brown to olive-brown plumage
• Bold black-and-white barred flanks

Similar species

The King Rail is brighter rufous, especially on the breast, and prefers fresher marshes rather than the Clapper Rail's coastal salt marsh; the two species hybridize where their ranges meet in brackish habitat. The Virginia Rail is much smaller.

Habitat

Coastal salt and brackish marshes dominated by cordgrass (Spartina).

Range and migration

Found along the Atlantic Coast from the northeastern United States through the Gulf Coast and into parts of the Caribbean and Central America. Largely non-migratory across most of its range, though northern populations may shift south during severe winters.

Behavior

Secretive but occasionally forages in the open along tidal creek edges, especially at low tide.

Voice

Famous for its loud, harsh, clattering 'kek-kek-kek' call, often given in a chorus, which gave rise to the name 'clapper.'

Feeding

Probes marsh mud for fiddler crabs and other invertebrates.

Nesting and breeding

Nests on the ground within dense cordgrass, timing breeding to avoid destruction of nests by extreme high tides.