California Clapper Rail © Reuben Bingham/U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Chicken-like Marsh Birds

Description 14-16" (36-41 cm). A reddish-brown chickenlike saltmarsh bird with a long, slightly drooping bill and an often upturned tail. Light brownish with dark streaks above. Rust-colored breast; bold, vertical gray and white bars on the flanks; white undertail coverts.

Endangered Status The California Clapper Rail, a subspecies of the Clapper Rail, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in California. Although it is still common in the East, the Clapper Rail has become endangered in the western United States. During the Gold Rush this bird, considered culinary delicacy, was heavily hunted. Over the years its coastal habitat has gradually been modified or destroyed by human "progress." The California Clapper Rail's stronghold is San Francisco Bay, where perhaps a thousand birds remain, up from a low of perhaps 300. The trapping of predators in the birds' range, such as feral cats, foxes, and rats, has improved the outlook for this subspecies.

Habitat Saltmarshes.

Range San Francisco Bay area.