Common Names
Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in Dutch:
Amerikaans Porceleinhoen, Sora-Ral
Common Names in English:
Carolina Crake, Carolina Rail, Chicken-Bill, Chicken-Billed Rail, Common Rail, Little American Water Hen, Meadow Chicken, Mud Hen, Ortolan, Railbird, Sora, Sora Crake, Sora Rail
Common Names in French:
Marouette De Caroline
Common Names in German:
Carolinasumpfhuhn
Common Names in Italian:
Voltolino Americano
Common Names in Japanese:
カオグãƒã‚¯ã‚¤ãƒŠ
Common Names in Spanish:
Polluela De La Carolina, Polluela Sora
Description
Physical Description
Adult : Head : gray Face : black Eye Color: reddish Bill: yellow Shape : stout Neck: Sides: slate Throat : black Body: Belly: white Breast: sides slate Flanks: barred with brown and white Mantle: brown with black blotches and fine white streaking Size: fairly small Upperparts: brown Legs : Leg Color: dull green.Adult Summer: Face: black patch Bill: yellow Length : short Neck: Throat: black patch Body: Back: black and buff spots Upperparts: gray with irregular barring of thin white lines Legs: Leg Color: yellow-green Toes: very long yellow-green.Immature: Head: buff Face: little or no black Eye Color: reddish Bill: yellow Shape: stout Neck: Sides: slate Throat: black Body: Belly: white Breast: sides slate Flanks: less densely barred than adult Mantle: brown with black blotches and fine white streaking Size: fairly small Upperparts: brown Legs: Leg Color: dull green.
Size/Age/Growth
About 8 to 10 inches long, with a wingspan of 12 to 14.5 inches. Adults weigh about 2.6 ounces .
Habitat
Found in most types of freshwater and salt marshes.
Vegetation: freshwater marshes • Foraging Strata: Terrestrial • Center of Abundance: Lower subtropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; subtropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,632 meters (0 to 11,916 feet).[1]
Ecology:
List of Habitats
:5.4Wetlands (inland) - Bogs
, Marshes, Swamps
, Fens
, Peatlands
Biology
Diet
Mostly: Seeds Green Plant Matter. Lesser Quantities of: Insects Aquatic Invertebrates .
Reproduction
- Breeding Habitat : Wetland-open water
- Clutch Size: 6-18
- Length of Incubation : 18-20 days
- Days to Fledge : 21-25
Migration
Migratory
Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
)
- animals
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Chordates
- Class:
Aves
()
- Birds
- Order:
Gruiformes
()
- Cranes, Rails
- Genus:
Porzana
()
- Vieillot 1816 Analyse p.61
- Specific name:
carolina
- (Linnaeus) 1758 Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.153
- Scientific name: - Porzana carolina (Linnaeus) 1758
- Specific name:
carolina
- (Linnaeus) 1758 Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.153
- Genus:
Porzana
(
- Order:
Gruiformes
(
- Class:
Aves
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 28-Nov-2006.
Similar Species
Virginia Rail, Yellow Rail
Members of the genus Porzana
There are approximately 65 species in this genus:
P. albicollis (White-Throated Crake) · P. albicollis albicollis (White-Throated Crake) · P. albicollis olivacea · P. albicollis olivaceus · P. astrictocarpus (St Helena Rail) · P. atra (Henderson Island Crake) · P. bicolor (Black-Tailed Crake) · P. carolina (Little American Water Hen) · P. cinerea (White-Browed Crake) · P. cinerea brevipes · P. cinereus collingwoodi · P. egregia · P. erythrops (Paint-Billed Crake) · P. exquisita · P. flavirostra (African Black Crake) · P. flavirostris · P. flaviventer (Yellow-Breasted Crake) · P. flaviventer bangsi · P. flaviventer flaviventer (Yellow-Breasted Crake) · P. flaviventer gossii · P. flaviventer hendersoni · P. flaviventer woodi · P. fluminea (Australian Spotted Crake) · P. fusca (Ruddy-Breasted Crake) · P. fusca bakeri · P. fusca erythrothorax · P. fusca fusca (Ruddy-Breasted Crake) · P. fusca phaeopyga · P. intermedia · P. jamaicensis · P. keplerorum · P. mandarina · P. marginalis · P. menehune · P. moluccana · P. monasa (Kusaie Island Crake) · P. nigra (Miller's Rail) · P. obscura · P. palmeri (Laysan Crake) · P. parva (Little Crake) · P. parva parva (Little Crake) · P. paykullii (Band-Bellied Crake) · P. porzana (Spotted Crake) · P. porzana porzana · P. pusilla (BaillonÃŒs Crake) · P. pusilla affinis · P. pusilla intermedia · P. pusilla mayri · P. pusilla mira · P. pusilla obscura · P. pusilla palustris · P. pusilla pusilla (BaillonÃŒs Crake) · P. pusillus · P. pygmaea · P. ralphorum · P. rua · P. sandwichensis (Hawaiian Crake) · P. severnsi · P. spiloptera (Dot-Winged Crake) · P. tabuensis (Spotless Crake) · P. tabuensis edwardi · P. tabuensis plumbea · P. tabuensis richardsoni · P. tabuensis tabuensis (Spotless Crake) · P. ziegleri
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- A hand-book to the birds of Great Britain. By R. Bowdler Sharpe London, E. Lloyd, Limited, 1896-1897. ENG url p. 230.
- A hand-list of British birds, with an account of the distribution of each species in the British Isles and abroad. By Ernst Hartert, F. C. R. Jourdain, N. F. Ticehurst and H. F. Withersby. London, Witherby, 1912. ENG url p. 212.
- A popular handbook of the birds of the United States and Canada, by Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, 1903. ENG url p. 189.
- A popular handbook of the ornithology of eastern North America. By Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1896. ENG url p. 189.
- Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
- Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Nicolai, 1835- GER url p. 108.
- Atlante ornitologico: uccelli europei: con notizie d'indole generale e particolare / del dr. E. Arrigoni Degli Oddi. Milano: U. Hoepli, 1902. ITA url p. 562.
- Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
- BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
- BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
- Birds of the Northwest: a hand-book of the ornithology of the region drained by the Missouri River and its tributaries / by Elliott Coues. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1874. ENG url p. 538.
- Birds. With the co-operation of John Cassin and George N. Lawrence. Washington, D.C., 1858. ENG url p. 749.
- Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 137, p. 47.
- Check-list of North American birds: according to the canons of nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. [s.l.]: The Union, 1889. ENG url p. 20.
- Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
- Field ornithology. Comprising a manual of instruction for procuring, preparing and preserving birds, and a check list of North American birds, by Elliott Coues. Salem [Mass.]Naturalists' Agency, 1874. ENG url p. 91.
- First report of the state zoist: accompanied with Notes on the birds of Minnesota / by P.L. Hatch, Henry F. Nachtrieb, state zoist. Minneapolis: Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota: 1892. ENG url p. 105.
- Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain. London, Allen, 1894-97. ENG url p. 230.
- Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. ENG url p. 134.
- Les oiseaux de la province le Quebec, par C.-E. Dionne. Quebec, Dussault & Proulx, 1906. FRE url p. 130, p. 412.
- Ornithology and oy of New England: containing full descriptions of the birds of New England, and adjoining states and provinces by Edward A. Samuels. Boston, Nichols and Noyes, 1867. ENG url p. 478.
- Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 247, p. 408.
- Report of the State Zo©logist. Minneapolis. ENG url p. 105.
- Report upon United States Geographical surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, in charge of First Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler [...] under the direction of the chief of engineers, U.S. Army. Published by authority of [...] the secretary of war in accordanc Washington: Govt. print. off., 1875-89. ENG url p. 468.
- Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)
- Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 15, p. 202, p. 350.
- The Annals of Scottish natural history. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1892-1911. ENG url p. 135, p. 9.
- The birds of New England and adjacent states: containing descriptions of the birds of New England, and adjoining states and provinces, arranged by a long-approved classification and nomenclature with illustrations of many species of the birds By Edwa Boston: Noyes, Holmes, and company, 1875. ENG url p. 478.
- The birds of eastern North America known to occur east of the nineteenth meridian by Charles B. Cory Chicago, Printed for the Field Columbian Museum [by A. Mudge], 1899. ENG url p. 342.
- The birds of eastern North America: known to occur east of the ninetieth meridian / by Charles B. Cory. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1899. ENG url p. 342.
- Zoe:a biological journal. 3 1892 San Diego, Calif. [etc.]Zoe Publishing Co. ENG url p. 139, p. 164.
- vi.
Notes
Contributors
- BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 12, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 23 providers.
- Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:
- Avian Knowledge Network, eBird
- Bird Studies Canada, BC Coastal Waterbird Survey
- Bird Studies Canada, Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Ontario Nest Records
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Royal British Columbia Museum
- Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
- New Brunswick Museum, NBM birds
- Royal Ontario Museum, Bird specimens
- Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
- UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- , Bird specimens
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3852152
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176242
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14378183
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176242
- IUCN ID: 48980
- Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNME08020
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 7254
Footnotes
- Mean = 428.130 meters (1,404.626 feet), Standard Deviation = 578.340 based on 13,503 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
