Ridgway's rail

Ridgway's rail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Rallus
Species:
R. obsoletus
Binomial name
Rallus obsoletus
Ridgway, 1874
Synonyms

Rallus longirostris obsoletus
Rallus crepitans obsoletus

Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) is a species of bird found principally along the Pacific coast of North America from the San Francisco Bay Area to southern Baja California, as well as in some regions of the Gulf of California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that lives brackish tidal marshes and rarely flies. Its name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway.

This species is closely related to the clapper rail, and until recently was considered a subspecies.[2] It has a long, downward curving bill and is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and conspicuous whitish rump patch. It is most active nocturnally and crepuscularly.[3]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Rallus obsoletus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22731577A178663850. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22731577A178663850.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Chesser, R. Terry; Banks, Richard C.; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Lovette, Irby J.; Navarro-Sigüenza, Adolfo G.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J. V.; Rising, James D.; Stotz, Douglas F.; Winker, Kevin (October 2014). "Fifty-Fifth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union". The Auk. 131 (4): CSi–CSxv. doi:10.1642/AUK-14-124.1. S2CID 198151282.
  3. ^ David C. Zeiner, William F. Laudenslayer and Kenneth E. Meyer, California’s Wildlife Volume II Birds, State of California Department of Fish and Game (990)