Shy and secretive, Rails are rarely seen but often heard. In the marshes, Rails race through the dense vegetation on their strong legs and long toes. With their short wings, stout legs, and compressed bodies, They can easily escape into the grasses. “Thin as a Rail” refers to their supple bodies and abilities to hide in plain sight.
The Rail Family has nearly thirty Sub-groupings. The most notable are Coots, with their bald plates, and Waterhens, who are like Hens in their activities. In addition, Swamphen, Purple Gallinules, and Tahakee comprise the Porphyrio group of Rails.
Tahakee of New Zealand is the largest living member of the Rail Family. Like many Rails found on islands, Tahakee is flightless. Because of the competition of introduced animals on their islands, many Rail species are threatened with
extinction. In fact, Tahakee was thought to be extinct several times.
At a local marsh I was visiting, the naturalist could only identify the Rails by their calls but could not find Them. Moreover, none of us could see Rails amongst the reeds. The loud calls of Rails can be heard in the wetlands, but the Birds Themselves are not seen.
Like Foxes, Rails are elusive, choosing when to be noticed and not. Melding back into the reeds with relative ease, Rails can disappear in front of you. However do not become so elusive that you end up extinct by not being noticed.
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Science Notes:
1. In various regions of the world, Rails are called different names. In the Old World, Rails are separated into long-billed birds known as “rails”, and short-billed ones as “crakes”. The term “Rails” include coots, crakes, gallinules, and swamphens.
2. Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus) have many names. They are also called “skitty coots” and “black gallinules”. Blue Gallinules (Porphyrio porphyrio) belong to the Porphyrio sub-grouping of Rails. Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) and Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) are Rails of different sub-groupings.
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