Family:
The sora rail is a small, secretive bird with a short tail, long toes, and thick, stubby bill. It has mottled grey and brown upperparts with white edges on the feathers, grey underparts, white bars on the flanks, and a white patch under its tail. On the head, the face is grey with a black mask and throat patch, and a yellow bill. Females are similar to males but are duller and have less black on the face and throat.
It has a distinctive, whinnying call, and can be heard more often than seen. It tends to hide in dense vegetation walking slowly through wetlands pushing its head forward and nervously flicking its tail.
The sora rail has a number of nicknames including the Carolina rail, soree, meadow chicken, and ortolan, the latter probably given to them by hunters who ate them after the French delicacy.
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Sora rails forage by raking vegetation with their feet or bill in search of snails, molluscs, invertebrates, insects, duckweed, and the seeds of aquatic plants.
Sora rails breed throughout most off North America from southeast Alaska to northwest California and southern New Mexico. The migrate south for winter to southern Texas, Central America, and South America. They are found in freshwater wetlands including marshes, flooded fields, and swamps, with vegetation such as cattails, sedges, and rushes. In winter they also inhabit brackish marshes, and wet pastures.
