Stalking the King Rail

BirdNote^®

Stalking the King Rail

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.
[Eastern US freshwater marsh includes Boat-tailed Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Least Bittern]  
It’s a fine morning for a walk in search of a very special bird. We’re on a trail bordering a huge freshwater marsh near the Gulf Coast of Texas. And we’re hearing the voices of Boat-tailed Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Least Bitterns. [Repeat calls, then silence] A flock of hot-pink Roseate Spoonbills just flew over. Glistening black alligators lie motionless at the water’s surface.
[Quiet broken by the explosive, loud grunting sounds of King Rail]
There! That’s the object of our quest, sounding off. It’s a King Rail! Rails are secretive birds. But this one has just stepped into the open. It’s glossy brown, its back streaked with black and gold – and it has a long red bill. It looks like a chicken crossed with a heron.
[Explosive sounds of King Rail]   
King Rails are the largest in North America, and the most threatened. American Bird Conservancy considers the King Rail an ambassador for the conservation of freshwater wetlands.  Its call reminds us that birds benefit from laws like the Clean Water Act. Again, here’s the sound that energizes all who are working to save habitat for the king of rails:
[Explosive sounds of King Rail]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein. Today’s show brought to you by the Lufkin Family Foundation.
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Boat-tailed Grackle recorded by M.J. Anderson 135406; Red-winged Blackbird by W.W.H. Gunn; Least Bittern by A. Kirk 81807; King Rail by Gerrit Vyn.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org         March 2017    Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# SotB-KIRA-01-2011-03-31