General
Virginia Rail: Medium-sized rail with brown-and-black mottled upperparts, white throat, rust-brown breast, and black-and-white barred belly. Head has black crown, gray face, and white eyebrows. Bill is long, red-brown, and curved down. Legs are orange-brown. Tail is short, black above, and white below. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is darker.
Range and Habitat
Virginia Rail: Breeds locally from southern British Columbia to Newfoundland, and south to northwestern Baja California, southern Arizona, west-central Texas, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, central Mexico, and South America. Spends winters from southern British Columbia to northern Baja California, and north to the Gulf Coast and North Carolina. Preferred habitats include freshwater marshes, mostly with cattails, reeds, and deep grass.
Breeding and Nesting
Virginia Rail: Five to thirteen brown-spotted, white to buff eggs are laid on a pile of matted reeds and layers of aquatic vegetation and grass. Usually nests in a dry area, but occasionally over mud or water. Both parents incubate eggs for about 20 days.
Foraging and Feeding
Virginia Rail: Diet includes insects and other invertebrates, aquatic plant seeds, and duckweed; forages on the ground or in shallow water.
Vocalization
Virginia Rail: Call includes grunts, squeaks, and rapidly descending notes "kid-ick, kid-ick, kid-ick" or "tic-tic-tic."
Similar Species
Virginia Rail: Black Rails has red eyes, white spots on back, and barred flanks.