Clapper Rail

Rallus crepitans

The clapper rail is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. This species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the mangrove rail. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 7,644 times across 15 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 27°C (typically 26 to 31°C, from 5 areas). That holds across 15° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.