Rail (bird)

"Crake" redirects here. For the surname, see Crake (surname). For the English river, see River Crake.

Rails
Temporal range: Early Eocene – Recent[1]
Dusky moorhen, Gallinula tenebrosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Rafinesque, 1815
Genera

Some 40 living, and see below.

Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinule; other rail species are extremely rare or endangered. Many are associated with wetland habitats, some being semi-aquatic like waterfowl (such as the coot), but many more are wading birds or shorebirds. The ideal rail habitats are marsh areas, including rice paddies, and flooded fields or open forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation for nesting.[2] The rail family is found in every terrestrial habitat with the exception of dry desert, polar or freezing regions, and alpine areas (above the snow line). Members of Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous unique island species are known.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kirchman2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Horsfall & Robinson (2003): pp. 206–207