Clapper Rail Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Clapper Rails have special salt glands that enable them to drink sea water.

Eggs submerged in up to 18 inches of water during high tide are still capable of hatching.

After leaving the nest, young are continually brooded by parents until they are about a week old. The parents may use the original nest, construct a temporary brood nest, or use floating debris.

Chicks less than two weeks old are carried on the adults’ backs during periods of high water or when the birds move across open water.

When chicks are about a week old, the parents divide the brood and each look after half the offspring.

The oldest recorded Clapper Rail was a male, and at least 7 years, 6 months old when he was shot in New Jersey in 1977. He had been banded in the same state in 1971.

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Basic Description

Other Names

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