Virginia Rail Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  The Virginia Rail is a chickenlike marsh bird with a long, heavy bill and a short, upturned tail. Head on, the Virginia Rail looks thin, but from the side they look rather full-bodied; what biologists call a laterally compressed body.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Sora, smaller than an American Coot.

  between robin and crow

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 7.9-10.6 in (20-27 cm)
    • Weight: 2.3-3.4 oz (65-95 g)
    • Wingspan: 12.6-15.0 in (32-38 cm)

  © Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Virginia Rails are rusty overall with a gray face, coarse dark streaking down the back, black-and-white barring on the sides, and white undertail feathers. The bill and legs are reddish, although the legs are often covered with mud.

• Behavior

  Virginia Rails walk with a somewhat jerky motion through wetlands. They tend to forage hurriedly in the open and more slowly under thick cover of cattails and bulrushes. They often twitch their upturned tail to show off the white undertail feathers.
• Habitat

  Virginia Rails predominately use fresh and brackish wetlands with cattails and bulrushes, and secondarily use coastal saltmarshes.