By contributing writer Meaghan O.
Black rails are small, dark-colored birds who live in salt marshes. Like loons up north, adult black rails
have red eyes.
The Eastern black rail is the species of black rail found along the east coast of North America and the
Caribbean. They make their home in the high marshes, using the dense vegetation to stay hidden from
predators like hawks, egrets, and foxes. They use the tides to forage for invertebrates in the mud. It can
be difficult to spot the secretive bird. However, at night, especially in early May during their breeding
and courtship season, you can hear them calling to each other like pip-pip-pip KRR or a sort of wailing
growl.
Black rails use higher ground in the marshes to keep their nests safe from tidal flooding. They lay six to
eight eggs on average. Like penguins, both parents take turns incubating their eggs in hour-long shifts,
which lasts 16 to 20 days.
Due to habitat loss and severe weather events, the black rail is a threatened species and are listed on
the Partners in Flight Red Watch List because of recent steep declines. Many areas of marshland have
been drained for development or agriculture. Sea level rise and erosion are other problems affecting
black rails’ marshland homes. There also aren’t a lot of scientific studies on black rails due to their ability
to stay hidden, so it’s difficult to ascertain the extent of their population decline. Black rails were
declared a threatened species in 2020 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.