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 from southern British Columbia to Newfoundland to northwestern Baja California, southern Arizona, west-central Texas, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, central Mexico, and South America. Winters from southern British Columbia to northern Baja California, and north to the Gulf Coast and North Carolina. Prefers freshwater marshes 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: Clapper and King Rails are much larger and have more rufous cheeks.