The Status and Occurrence of Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) in British Columbia. By Rick Toochin. Published: June 3, 2023.

The Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) is a secretive species that breeds in across eastern Canada and eastern areas of the United States (Godfrey 1986, Sibley 2000). The breeding distribution imperfectly known (Leston and Bookhout 2020). The Yellow Rail breeds very locally in fresh and brackish water wetlands, swampy meadows, and occasionally wet, cut-over hay fields, over a wide area from north-central Alberta (Semenchuk 1992, Prescott et al. 2002, Federation of Alberta Naturalists 2007), southeastern Northwest Territories, northern Saskatchewan, and northern Manitoba (Artuso et al. 2018), east to the west coast of James Bay (Todd 1963, Tozer 2007), south into eastern Quebec along the St. Lawrence River lowlands and the Gaspé Peninsula (Terrill 1943, Robert 1996), and New Brunswick where it is very rare and local (Godfrey 1986), and eastern Maine (Gibbs et al. 1991). This species also breeds west to southern Ontario (Tozer 2007), the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan where it is very rare and local (Walkinshaw 1991, Leston and Bookhout 2020), central Wisconsin where it is very rare and local (WIBBA 2003), northern Minnesota (Roberts 1932, Janssen 1987, Leston and Bookhout 2020), North Dakota (Berkey 1991), and the northeastern corner of Montana (Montana Bird Dist. Committee 2012).

 

A local breeding population in south-central Oregon, thought previously extirpated, was rediscovered in 1982 (Stern et al. 1993). More recent breeding surveys (Adamus et al. 2001) have found this Oregon population persists, with its center in Lake and Klamath counties, extending into northern California. The Yellow Rail formerly bred in Mono County, California (Small 1994), where it was encountered as recently as 1985 (Gaines 1988). 

The Mexican subspecies (C. n. goldmani) is known only from the State of México, where it was formerly a local resident to 2,500 m in the upper Rio Lerma valley (Howell and Webb 2010). It was last recorded in 1964 and the present status unknown. Much of that area has since been drained but the species may still occur there (Howell and Webb 2010).

The Yellow Rail is a complete migrant with widely separated breeding and wintering grounds (Leston and Bookhout 2020).  This species travels short to moderate distances between Canada and northern Unites States to the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts (Leston and Bookhout 2020). The Yellow Rail winters in coastal areas from North Carolina to southern Texas (Oberholser 1974), where it appears to favor drier portions of cordgrass (Spartina patens) marshes (Anderson 1977a); scattered records from the California coast from Humboldt County (most sightings) south to Riverside County, and east to Mono County (Small 1994). Small numbers overwinter in marshes of southeastern Oklahoma, about 300 km north of the Gulf Coast (Butler et al. 2010). There is one record for Grand Bahama (Ripley 1977).

The migration routes of the Yellow Rail are currently poorly understood but thought to be widespread due to the number of encounters of Yellow Rails between breeding and overwintering areas. These broad encounters suggest that this species moves on a broad front in migration over eastern North America (Leston and Bookhout 2020). There is some evidence that at least few birds move together and migrate in groups during the night (Leston and Bookhout 2020). On October 16, 1960, 13 individuals were recovered below a 500-m TV tower in Texas (Pulich 1962), and on March 13, 1969, 28 bird as perhaps as many as 50 birds were flushed from a burning field in Carteret County in coastal North Carolina (Chapman 1969a).

The Yellow Rail arrives in the spring in Minnesota in the last week of April (Stalheim 1974) at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in the first week of May (Walkinshaw 1939e); and in southern Quebec from May 8-29 (Robert and Laporte 1999). Fall migrants depart Minnesota and Michigan in September, with Michigan birds passing thorough the Lower Peninsula into late October (Walkinshaw 1939e). The latest date of fall occurrence in Quebec is October 26 (Robert and Laporte 1999). Earliest and latest dates of occurrence on overwintering sites in Louisiana are October 6 in the fall and May 1, in the spring (Lowery 1974).

The elusive nature makes finding Yellow Rails very difficult as vagrants. In Washington State, the Yellow Rail is an accidental migrant vagrant with only 3 accepted state records by the Washington Bird Records Committee (Wahl et al. 2005). These include:  1 immature collected as a specimen at Skagit Flats, Skagit County, on November 16, 1935 (Wahl et al. 2005); 1 bird found at Herman Slough northwest of Othello, in Adams County, on April 30, 1969 (Wahl et al. 2005); and more recently 1 bird observed at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, in Clark County, May 6, 2007 (Aanerud 2011). In British Columbia, the Yellow Rail is a rare sporadic breeding species in the northeastern part of the province with over 30 provincial records (Toochin et al. 2018).

 

The identification of the Yellow Rail is covered in all standard North American field guides. This species is a medium sized bird measuring 18 cm in length, with a wingspan of 28 cm, and weighing 50 grams (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2011). In the context of British Columbia, the only species similar looking to a Yellow Rail is an immature Sora (Porzana carolina) (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2011). Yellow Rails are smaller in size than the Sora which measures 22 cm in length, has a wingspan of 35 cm, and weighs 75 grams (Sibley 2000), and are much buffier in colouration with a short, pointed bill (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). The crown is a dark brownish black and the upperparts are deep brown and black with prominent buffy striping (Sibley 2000).  The back feathers, scapulars, and tertials have at least two distinctive white bars (Sibley 2000). The underparts are buffy brown with the chin and upper throat nearly white (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). The primaries are pale brown and secondaries largely white, forming a white patch when wing is extended which is a distinctive identification feature when this bird is flushed out in the open (Sibley 2000).

 

Although there are two subspecies of Yellow Rail that have been described, all extant populations are combined with the nominate (C. n. noveboracensis) (Leston and Bookhout 2020). The other subspecies, (C. n. goldmani), formerly occurred in central Mexico but appears to have become extinct in the past century due to habitat destruction (Howell and Webb 2010). This species is very closely related to the similar Swinhoe’s Rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) of eastern Asia, and the two species are sometimes considered conspecific by some authors (Taylor and Sharpe 2020).

The following description of Yellow Rail plumages is taken from Sibley (2000), Dunn and Alderfer (2011), and Lester and Bookout (2021) unless otherwise stated.

 

On adult birds the upperparts are blackish to dark blackish brown with fine white feather edges, which create a scaled appearance, and extensive, broad yellowish-buff streaks on the back, scapulars, and rump. The upperwing coverts are mottled with dark brown and yellow-buff and are finely scaled with white. The primaries are dark grey, and the secondaries are largely white, forming a bold white wing patch that is visible in flight. The tail is very and black with several narrow white bands on the tail feathers. The breast and upper belly are largely yellowish-buff, contrasting with the white-barred blackish or dark brown flanks, lower belly, and undertail coverts. The underwings are largely white. The head is largely yellowish-buff, with brown mottling and scalloping on the nape, hindneck, and sides of the neck, and blackish or blackish-brown crown, and a blackish-brown patch on the lores and ear coverts that creates a dark ‘mask or smudge through the eye. The iris is dark, the relatively short, stout bill is yellowish, and the legs and feet are flesh-pink to greenish or greyish. Males are indistinguishable from females in plumage coloration, but the bill of the male becomes corn yellow during breeding season; at other times the bill is dark olive to black, like that of female. Males are heavier than females, and body measurements are correspondingly larger.

 

Immature plumage is held from August throughout the fall and winter into February and is lost in late winter prior to spring migration. It is similar in appearance to the adult, but the head, neck, sides of the breast, and upperparts are extensively and boldly speckled with white. The bill is largely brownish, often with some pale yellowish at the base, and is darker than that of the adult. 

 

The song of the male Yellow Rail are unique and very distinctive given in a series of dry, mechanical clicks in a consistent pattern of two clicks followed by a more rapid series of three clicks “tic, tic, tictictic…..tic, tic, tictictic…..tic, tic, tictictic” (Sibley 2000). This song is repeated for long periods of time without pause and is most frequently given throughout the night, but it is also given during the day, particularly in the early morning (Leston and Bookhout 2020). It is very reminiscent of the sound made by tapping two small pebbles together (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). Other calls that are heard less frequently include a descending cackle of about 10 notes, a series of three or four clunking notes that sound like distant knocking on door, quiet croaking notes, and soft wheezing or clucking notes (Sibley 2000, Leston and Bookhout 2020).

Courtship and pair formation of this species is poorly known but appears to largely involve the male’s song as a means of courtship display (Leston and Bookout 2021). 

The Yellow Rail nests in shallow marshes with water depth generally <15 cm, grading to saturated soil (Bookhout and Stenzel 1987) In Michigan, plants such as Wiregrass Sedge (Carex lasiocarpa) is the principal vegetational component for this species (Bookhout and Stenzel 1987). In brackish marshes of southern Quebec (Robert 1993, Robert 1996), Yellow Rail nests are primarily found in the upper reaches, in portions of the marsh flooded only at exceptional high tides and dominated by grasses and sedges, including red fescue (Festuca rubra), slim-stem reedgrass (Calamagrostis stricta), fresh-water cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), and scaly sedge (Cyperus tenuiflorus). Nests also found in upper levels of the salt (cordgrass) marshes of the St. Lawrence River estuary (Robert 1996).

In Oregon, nesting areas are characterized by broadleaved sedges, principally Lesser Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria), Analogue Sedge (C. simulate), and Bottle Sedge (C. rostrata) (Stern et al. 1993). Nest situated beneath dead, procumbent vegetation; rests on ground or as much as 15 cm above it (Stern et al. 1993). In Saskatchewan, 2 nests found “in the early 30's” during hay mowing; both “were in long grass on damp ground at the edge of water..” (Houston 1969a). Some such nests are undoubtedly flooded.

A clutch of 5-10 eggs are laid after the completion of the nest and are incubated by the female for 13-18 days before hatching (Baicich and Harrison 1997). The smooth, non-glossy eggs are creamy-buff and are sparsely to heavily speckled around the larger end with reddish-brown spots (Baicich and Harrison 1997).

The young are semi-precocial upon hatching and are completely covered in long, glossy black down (sometimes with a faint greenish cast on the head and a dull brownish cast on the body); the bill is bright pink when first hatched, but gradually becomes whitish (Leston and Bookhout 2020). The young can stand and walk within a day of hatching, and by the second day they leave the nest to forage alongside the female (Leston and Bookhout 2020). They continue to be fed by the female for 5 days after leaving the nest, but subsequently acquire all food on their own (Leston and Bookhout 2020). They are brooded by the female for ~3 weeks after they leave the nest, often retiring to a special ‘brood nest’ for brooding (Leston and Bookhout 2020). The young can fly weakly at ~35 days of age, after which time they become independent (Leston and Bookout 2021). 

This species forages almost exclusively within very dense vegetation (usually sedges) and spends almost all of it’s time concealed, and its foraging habits are poorly known (Leston and Bookout 2021). It feeds primarily on aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrates, with small freshwater snails forming the bulk of its diet; other prey species include insects and their larvae, earthworms, and spiders (Leston and Bookout 2021). It also consumes the seeds of sedges and other aquatic plants, especially outside of the breeding season (Leston and Bookout 2021). It picks its prey from the surface of the mud, from low vegetation, and from the surface of the water or even from 3-4 cm below the surface of the water (Leston and Bookout 2021). 

The first record of the Yellow Rail in British Columbia was an adult that was heard calling by K. Wood at Lake Lillian, in east Kootenay from June 29-July 9, 1964 (Wood 1964), but this species has only been recognized as occurring in the province since an adult was heard calling by Wayne C. Weber at Boundary Lake, east of Ft. St. John, in the Peace River on June 10, 1989 (Weber and Cannings 1990, Campbell et al. 2001). Most provincial records come from in and around the Peace River region. There were several records during the early 1990s, but it was not until the late 1990s into the early 2000s that this species began to be detected regularly in the Peace River area with birds found in the Chetwynd area and subsequently being detected at several sites east to the Alberta border (Toochin et al. 2018). In 2002, a population of several territorial males was discovered in the Del Rio area northeast of Chetwynd, and the species has appeared at this site annually since then, with at least 3 singing males detected at a time (Toochin et al. 2018). According to the Breeding Bird Atlas of British Columbia, nesting has been confirmed only in province in the Peace River region (Phinney 2015). The Breeding Bird Atlas of British Columbia also found the majority of the 13 squares where Yellow Rails were recorded had only one general location where this species was found, but most of these locations had multiple records either within or between years (Phinney 2015). Thus, based on the current knowledge of distribution, the total population of Yellow Rail breeding in the province is quite small; probably fewer than 100 pairs (Phinney 2015). The Yellow Rail is a rare and local, but annual, in the Peace River lowlands of northeastern British Columbia, occurring west at least as far as the Chetwynd area, north to Boundary Lake, and south at least as far as Swan Lake and the Tupper area (Environment Canada 2013). Unless vocalizing, the Yellow Rail is almost impossible to detect, even where it occurs in numbers, and is almost always detected by hearing the song of the male. Although it has appeared only recently in the province, it is unclear whether this population has always occurred in British Columbia but has been overlooked or whether it is a new arrival from populations in adjacent areas of Alberta. COSEWIC has listed the Yellow Rail federally as a species of “Special Concern“, this is due to the species having a sparsely distributed range in Canada which encompasses the majority of the species’ global range and is susceptible to habitat degradation and loss of wetlands (COSEWIC 2009). Phinney (2015) also states that a major threat to the Yellow Rail in British Columbia is that “many of the consistently occupied marshes in British Columbia are potentially under threat from draining, flooding, cattle trampling, and oil and gas development”. Phinney (2015) also points out that the “Yellow Rail is also listed as a 'Category of Species at Risk' under the British Columbia Forest and Range Practices Act and the Oil and Gas Activities Act”. Phinney (2015) points out that “this latter designation allows areas of important habitat to be protected from forestry and oil and gas industrial activity”. Unfortunately, Phinney (2015) also points out the fact that there is “no protection has been enacted to date”. Hopefully in the future the Yellow Rail will not be susceptible to extirpation due to development pressures in the Peace River region. 

Outside the Peace River region territorial birds have been found in the Cariboo region. This includes 1-3 adults found by George Clulow and other observers of birds likely nesting in the Anahim Lake Resort area along Christensen Road on June 24, 2010, and in the same general area 2 birds singing found by George Clulow and other observers on June 23, 2013 (Toochin et al. 2018). Other records of note from this general region include an adult found by Chris Coates, Kae Stafford, Peter Opie, and other observers at Colpitt Lake, 3.2 miles from Springhouse, in Cariboo Regional District from June 1-11, 2013 (Toochin et al. 2018) and another adult photographed by Steve Juhasz at Nimpo Lake, in the Chilcotin Regional District on May 28, 2019 (Toochin et al. 2018). These records likely reflect a greater presence of the species in appropriate habitat in northern British Columbia but is currently unknown due to a lack of observers and coverage.  

 

In the Rocky Mountain Trench, west of the Rocky Mountains, there both spring and fall records, some photographed, reflecting the likelihood that this species has a wider distribution than is currently known (Toochin et al. 2018). These records include: an adult found at Corn Creek Marsh near Lone Pine Hill, in Creston on August 9, 1979 (Butler et al. 1986); an adult found by Peter Sherrington along the Kickinghorse River, in Yoho National Park June 10, 1994 (Sherrington 1994, Davidson 1995); another adult found by W. Smith in Yoho National Park June 20, 1994 (Toochin et al. 2018), an adult photographed by J. Bolding (BC Photo 1776) at Cranberry Marsh near Valemount on August 26, 1995 (Campbell et al. 2001) [note this record is disputed by some as in fact an immature Sora];  an immature found by Douglas Leighton at Burgess and James Gadsden Provincial Park,  between Canal Flats and Golden on September 10, 2015 (Toochin et al. 2018); and an adult found and photographed by Denis Dean at Matthew Creek, in Kimberley on May 24, 2020 (Toochin et al. 2018).

 

There is only a single record for the Lower Mainland which involved an adult found and photographed in Stanley Park, in Vancouver by Grant Finlayson and others on May 23, 2012 (Toochin et al. 2018). 

 

There is also a record of a bird singing that was heard only by Ralph Fryer at Somenos Lake, in Duncan on May 26, 1976 (Shepard 1976d, Campbell et al. 1990b). The observer was familiar with the vocalizations of this species having grown up on the Canadian Prairies (Campbell et al. 1990b). Unfortunately, there is no audio-recording of this record, but the timing fits the pattern of occurrence in British Columbia, and it is important to note that observer had previous experience with calling Yellow Rails. 

 

The nocturnal habits and skulky nature make detection of birds difficult and makes this species likely overlooked in other regions of the province. The Yellow Rail could potentially be found as a migrant vagrant in any region of British Columbia and should be watched for in known vagrant traps where there is appropriate habitat for this species.

1.(1) adult (heard only) calling June 29-July 9, 1964: K. Wood: Lake Lillian, in east Kootenay (Wood 1964)

2.(1) (heard only) May 26, 1976: Ralph Fryer: Somenos Lake, Duncan (Shepard 1976d, Campbell et al. 1990b)

3.(1) adult August 9, 1979: Corn Creek Marsh near Lone Pine Hill, Creston (Butler et al. 1986)

4.(1) adult (heard only) calling June 10, 1989: WCW: Boundary Lake, east of Ft. St. John, Peace River (Weber and Cannings 1990, Campbell et al. 2001)

5.(1) adult June 10, 1994: Peter Sherrington: along Kickinghorse River, Yoho National Park (Sherrington 1994, Davidson 1995)

6.(1) adult June 20, 1994: W. Smith: Yoho National Park (Toochin et al. 2018)

7.(1) adult August 26, 1995: (BC Photo 1776) Cranberry Marsh near Valemount [identification in question] (Campbell et al. 2001)

8.(2-3) adults June 3-July 13, 1997: Scott Grindal, Mike Setterington, Andrew DeVries: 30km west of Chetwynd, Pine River, Peace River (Davidson 1999) 

9.(2-3) adults June 9- July 30, 2001: Mark Phinney, Jamie Fenneman, mobs: south end of Swan Lake, Tupper, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

10.(3) adults May 29, 2002: Sandra Kinsey, Laird Law: large marsh, Worth in the Del Rio area, 60km north of Chetwynd (Toochin et al. 2018)

11.(3) adults June 10 & 23, 2002: Sandra Kinsey, Laird Law: Worth in the Del Rio area, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

12.(1) adult June 26, 2003: Mark Phinney: Worth in the Del Rio area, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

13.(3) adults June 7-July 10, 2004: Mark Phinney, mobs: large marsh, Worth in the Del Rio area, 60km north of Chetwynd, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

14.(1) adult July 1, 2004: Jukka Jantunen, mobs: South end of Swan Island, Dawson Creek, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

15.(1) adult June 2, 2005: Thede Tobish: Boundary Lake, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

16.(1) adult June 14, 2005: Jeremy Gatten: 20 km north of Dawson Creek, Valleyview area, Peace River (Cecile 2005d, Toochin et al. 2018)

17.(1) adult June 23, 2005: Jeremy Gatten: #300 Rd. in the North Moberly area, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

18.(1) adult June 19, 2007: RTo, LH: large marsh, Worth in the Del Rio area, 60km north of Chetwynd, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

19.(1) adult June 22, 2007: RTo, LH: sedge meadow at Boundary Lake, east of Ft. St. John, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

20.(2) (heard only) adults June 6, 2009: Russ Cannings: Watson Slough, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

21.(2) (1 bird seen) adults May 29, 2010: Russ Cannings, Gabriel David, Samanth Brett: Del Rio Marshes, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

22.(1-3) adults June 24, 2010: George Clulow, mobs: Anahim Lake Resort Area, Chilcotin (Toochin et al. 2018)

23.(1) adult June 26, 2010: Ted Hillary: McQueen’s Slough, Dawson Creek, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

24.(5-11 adults) (heard calling) June 12, 2011: Russ Cannings, George Clulow: Watson Slough, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

25.(1) adult May 23, 2012: Grant Finlayson, mobs (photo) Stanley Park, Vancouver (Toochin et al. 2018)

26.(1) adult June 1-11, 2013: Chris Coates, Kae Stafford, Peter Opie, mobs: Colpitt Lake,3.2 miles from Springhouse, Cariboo Regional District(Toochin et al. 2018)

27.(1) adult June 1, 2013: Pablo Jost, mobs: Watson Slough at Bear Flats on Hwy 29, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

28.(1) adult June 14, 2013: Ryan Johnston, mobs: Bouche Lake Road, Peace River Area (Toochin et al. 2018)

     (2) adults June 17, 2013: Evan Pye: Bouche Lake Road, Peace River Area (Toochin et al. 2018)

29.(3) adults June 21, 2013: Ryan Johnston: Watson Slough along Highway 29, Peace River Region (Toochin et al. 2018)

30.(2) adults June 23, 2013: George Clulow: Christensen Road, Anahim Lake, Chilcotin (Toochin et al. 2018)

31.(1) adult mid-June, 2014: Russell Cannings: east of Chetwynd (Toochin et al. 2018)

32.(2-3) adult male June 15, 2015: Peter Candido (photo) Watson Slough, Peace River (Toochin et al. 2018)

33.(1) immature September 10, 2015: Douglas Leighton: Burgess and James Gadsden Provincial Park, between Canal Flats and Golden (Toochin et al. 2018)

34.(1) adult May 28, 2019: Steve Juhasz (photo) Nimpo Lake,Chilcotin Regional District (Toochin et al. 2018)

35.(1) adult May 24, 2020: Denis Dean (photo) Matthew Creek, Kimberley (Toochin et al. 2018)

I want to thank Don Cecile for editing the original manuscript.

 

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