ID, Please

[photographmemories]

This shouldn't take long with all the shorebird experts we have here...

This was a quick grab shot before take off with minimal light

 

[photographmemories]

Virginia rail? The reddish color under the wing is throwing me off.

I wonder if this is a younger bird.




Chad

 

[Bill Anderson]

Definitely a Virginia rail, a very hard bird to find and photograph. I haven't seen one at the Edmonds marsh since 10-26-2012.

 

[squirl033]

i concur. these are tough birds to catch in the open - nicely done! here are a couple more...

 

[JaniceL]

Great find. I have yet to see one.

 

[Joemeche]

No doubt....Virginia Rail.

 

[photographmemories]

Thanks, everyone!

You guys have some great shots of these elusive little birds.

I called it a shorebird but, allaboutbirds describes the Virginia rail as a freshwater marsh bird.

Nearly every photo I've seen has the bird in foliage on the ground. Do you ever see them in trees?




Chad

 

[squirl033]

never seen one in a tree, Chad. they're definitely marsh dwellers, and, as you've discovered, they rarely come out in the open. they can fly, but not well, and their best defense from predators is concealment, so they tend to stay hidden in the reeds and grasses.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The term "thin as a rail" comes from the Virgina rail. Its spine is very flexible, which allows it to move through cattails without causing the cattails to quiver and reveal the rail's location.

My last rail sightings at the Edmonds marsh were in 2012. That was a banner year for rails in Edmonds, as I photographed them at the marsh and the fish hatchery. The rails have a distinctive call. It was so frustrating to be standing on the #2 viewing platform of the marsh, hear a rail calling less than ten feet away in the cattails below the platform, and not being able to see it.

Here are some Sasquatch shots of a mother Virginia rail and her chick that I took at the marsh in July, 2012. Rail chicks look like fuzzy 8 balls with legs.

 

[squirl033]

i always thought "thin as a rail" came from comparisons to old split-rail fences... ah, well... learn something every day. you're fortunate to have been able to get photos of the chick... i've seen the babies, but never gotten a picture, though i have lots of shots of the adults...

 

[Bill Anderson]

i always thought "thin as a rail" came from comparisons to old split-rail fences..

I always thought it referred to a railroad rail. All three may be correct.