Hi all,
John Confer, who is no longer a Cayugabirds subscriber, asked me to
forward this to the list. John's water spaniel caught a Yellow Rail near
his home on Flatiron Road in Caroline on Saturday. Read John's exciting
story below:
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Yellow Rail
From: con...@ithaca.edu
Date: Sun, October 18, 2009 9:31 am
To: m...@cornell.edu
Cc: con...@ithaca.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 October, 2009
From: John L. Confer
Biology Department
Ithaca College,
Ithaca, NY 14850
To: NYSARC
Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) report.
On the afternoon of 17 Oct, 2009 I was walking through a ~60 acre hay
field that was mowed this past July. This site is adjacent to the
Goetchius Preserve, owned by the Finger Lakes Land Trust, about one mile
west of the eastern edge of Tompkins County, NY and bordered to the east
by Flatiron Rd, in the Town of Caroline. The coordinates are N42o,
25â30â, W76o 17â42â.
The mixed vegetation averaged about a foot high with patches of taller
goldenrod and some areas with shorter vegetation. My dog, Belle Flower,
began pouncing in the grass with stiff front legs and then grabbed
something in her mouth. I fully expected the creature to be a dead vole,
as has happened in the past. I pried her mouth open and was shocked to
find it was a bird. I opened my hand and rolled the bird over for a better
look. I was actually flabbergasted when it started to move. Iâve banded
thousands of birds, but having just gotten it from Bellâs mouth, I was
certain this one was dead and left my hand open. In a few seconds, this
creature, which I had thought was certainly dead, flew out of my hand.
Frankly, I could have gotten a much more detailed view of this hand-held
bird if I had anticipated it was well enough to get up and fly a few
seconds after I removed it from the jaws of death. In fact this
observation might be the shortest view of a potential NYSAR bird on
record. Nonetheless, some of the features were seen in hand with complete
certainty, enough so that I offer this report. I am quite certain of the
features I saw, which I think are sufficient to definitively identify the
bird. However, I know that there are features that you might well expect,
which I did not have the time to observe. Please donât pillage me too
harshly for not noting several other features.
DESCRIPTION
SIZE. I held the bird in my hand and its head and neck stretched just
beyond my thumb and fore-finger . With its body extended diagonally across
my palm, the tail reached just beyond the palm of my hand slightly past
the little finger. This distance was later measured as 6-7 inches, which
is about the length of the bird.
LEGS. As I first held the bird in my hand, the very first thing I noted,
which made me aware it was not a mammal, was its legs that extended beyond
my cupped hand. The bird had notably long legs, about 2 inches. The legs
were bluish-gray or slate-gray or gray with a slight hint of metallic
blue, a little darker than the leg color of Tufted Titmouse.
BEAK. The beak was straight and about ½ inch long. It definitely was
shorter and not curved as with a Virginia Rail and it definitely was not
the thickness, top to bottom, of a Sora Rail beak. The ratio of the
thickness at the base to the length was similar to a Red-winged Blackbird,
although the culmen was not curved and the total size of the beak (as well
as the bird itself) was smaller.
BODY COLOR. The coloration on the back was streaked consisting of broad
streaks of medium dark brown alternating with lighter brown. The breast
and side of the bird was distinctly lighter brown than the back, more of a
straw brown color. I wouldnât say it actually looked yellow, but it was
a very light brown color. The head coloration was similar to the body,
although, frankly, I didnât take/have as much time to note head details
as desirable.
TAIL. The tail was short and the underside was a dark color.
FLIGHT. When the bird flew out of my hand, it flew about 10 m before it
landed back down in the hay field. The flight was sustained by rapid,
shallow wing beats, which created the impression of a poor flier.
FLIGHT PATTERN. As it flew, a white edge on the secondaries was very
clear. The white extend up the secondaries for about ¼ of the feather
length. The white edge was clearly not a thin line (not like the thin line
of a Wood Duck for contrast). There was no white in the tail, which I
could not have missed in viewing this bird from behind and while looking
down on it.
I looked at Petersonâs fourth edition and noted several discrepancies
between my observations/report and his depiction. First, this edition
depicts the legs as being yellow. I recall being quite impressed by the
length and bluish-grey color of the legs, the very first thing that made
me aware it was a bird and not a vole, as I held the bird in my closed
hand. Second, Peterson describes and depicts the white in the wings as a
patch. I knew enough about the identity of this bird in the few seconds
before it flew away to focus intently on the flight pattern in the wings
and I am clear in my recollection that the white appeared to extend
across the ends of all of the secondaries and the white did not extend
very far up the secondaries. The white in the ends of the feathers was
more extensive than a thin line, but it was not like Petersonâs
illustration of a patch. Third, as the bird lay in my hand, it stretched
out its neck. Neither Petersonâs illustration, nor any of the
illustrations of a Yellow Rail I have seen, depict the bird with a
moderately long neck. The length, in proportion to the body, was not as
long as, e.g., a yellowlegs, but was about the same proportion as most
plovers. I think this third contrast with Peterson is relatively
unimportant, since birds can readily change the apparent length of their
neck. I suppose I noted that the bird actually has a neck of modest
length because, as it lay on one side in my hand, it extended its neck
and tried to stretch around to put its head in a normal, upright
position.
Again, after composing the above portion of this report, I subsequently, I
must admit, Googled images of Yellow Rails. The images support my
observations/report in contrast to Peterson as I have described. First,
several of the photographs show a dark leg color, although the exact color
is not readily determined in the images. None of images show the leg as
yellow. Second, if you will look at the following image of a bird in
flight with a clear view of the white on the secondaries,
http://www.wildbirds.org/images/Bird%20pictures%20from%20US%20Forestry%2002082008/yellow_rail03.jpg
you can see what I described. The white shows clearly in this image and is
not a patch and only extend up the secondaries from their tip a modest
distance. The white does not extend far enough up the secondaries to form
a patch as I would use the phrase. I donât know if the wing pattern for
this species varies with age or season, but Petersonâs account does not
describe the bird I saw, but this picture does fit what I saw.
DISTINCTION WITH POTENTIALLY CONFUSING SPECIES
Common Bobwhite. The bobwhite is larger, has a more conical beak and has a
much stronger head pattern than shown by this bird. The bobwhite is not
straw brown on the underside and does not have a white bar on the edge of
the secondaries.
Eastern Meadowlark. The meadowlark under the conditions I observed would
certainly have shown white tail feathers and would not have had a white
bar at the end of the secondaries. The beak of the bird in hand was not as
large, in proportion to the body, as the beak of a meadowlark. The
birdâs flight was totally unlike a meadowlark and the bird was much
smaller than a meadowlark.
Sora Rail. The sora has a stouter beak than what I saw and does not have a
white wing bar on end of the secondaries. Further, the sora is a larger
bird and I have had the impression that soras have a larger body, relative
to body length, than the bird I saw. Soras are darker brown than the bird
I was.
Virginia Rail. The bird I saw did not have a long, decurved beak. The beak
was not conical, but certainly was not long, either. It was only moderate
in length and straight. The bird I saw was brown to light, straw-brown. It
did not have any of the reddish-brown color of a Virginia Rail.
I saw this hand-held bird with my naked eye and watched if fly away from
my hand for about 10 m. My vision, after Lasik surgery, is about 20/20.
The day was completely overcast without direct sun or strong shadows. I
watched it for a regrettable short time, perhaps only for about 10 seconds
before it flew up out of my hand.
FAMILIARITY WITH SPECIES
I spent nearly two weeks for each of two years on the tundra of Hudson Bay
where Yellow Rails are fairly common nesters. For these trips, I studied
the identifying field marks thoroughly. In that sense, I am familiar with
the species. However, since for both years I was there in late August
after the birds quit calling, I have never seen/heard this bird before.
Sincerely,
John Confer
Marie Read Wildlife Photography
452 Ringwood Road
Freeville NY 13068 USA
Phone 607-539-6608
e-mail m...@cornell.edu
http://www.marieread.com
http://www.agpix.com/mari
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