Adult Virginia Rail close up, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah

Virginia Rail Images, Facts and Information:

Rallus limicola

  • Virginia Rails are small chicken-like marshbirds with long, reddish decurved bills, dark backs, rufous breasts and throats, gray cheeks, reddish eyes, strong legs and short tails.
  • Virginia Rails can laterally compress their bodies to get through tight spots.
  • Virginia Rails prefer freshwater marsh habitat that includes dense emergent vegetation such as cattails, reeds and tall grasses. They will occasionally live in saltwater marshes.
  • Virginia Rails are migratory.
  • Virginia rails eat seeds, aquatic vegetation, insects, insect larvae, fish, small snakes and frogs.
  • Virginia Rails lay 4 to 13 eggs which take 20 days to hatch. Both sexes incubate and they are monogamous.
  • A group of Virginia Rails is called a “reel” of rails.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Virginia Rail photos.

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