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Spring and Summer Records of the Yellow Rail in Maine

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Spring and Summer Records of the Yellow Rail in Maine J. Field Ornithol., 62(4):509-516 SPRING AND SUMMER RECORDS OF THE YELLOW RAIL IN MAINE JAMESP. GIBBS• WildlifeDepartment Universityof Mazne Orono, Maine 04469 USA W. Ge. EOOe.¾ SHRIVER WildlifeDepartment Universityof Maine Orono, Maine 04469 USA SCOTT M. MELVIN 2 Maine Departmentof Inland Fisheriesand Wildlife P.O. Box 7298 Bangor,Maine 04407 USA Abstract.--Spring and summer recordsof Yellow Rails (Coturnicopsnoveboracensis) are reportedfrom Maine, USA, where during May-June 1990, calling maleswere locatedat four sitesin eastern and central portionsof the state. Yellow Rails occurredat sedge-and grass-dominatedfloodplains adjacent to free-flowingstreams. Yellow Rails were associated with damp,low-lying areas(water depthsin early July averaged5-10 cm), a senescentmat of vegetation15-20 cm abovethe substrate,and relatively low densitiesof sedge,rush, and grassstems (85-115/m2). Theseobservations represent the only recentevidence that Yellow Rails might breed in the easternUnited States;a more definitive determination of the status and distributionof this poorly known speciesin easternNorth America is needed. INFORMES DE INDIVIDUOS DE COTURNICOPS NOVEBORACENSIS EN MAINE DURANTE LA PRIMAVERA Y EL VERANO Sinopsis.--Seinforman individuosde Coturnicopsnoveboracensis durante la primavera y el veranoen Maine. Durante mayo-junio de 1991 selocalizaron machos vocalizando en cuatro fireasde las parteseste y central del estado.Las avesse encontraron en planiciesinundadas, dominadaspot gramlneas y junquillos adyacentesa arroyos. Los pfijaros se asociarona fireasinundadas de pocaprofundidad (la profundidaddurante julio promedi6de 5-10 cm), con esterasde vegetaci6nde 15-20 cm sobreel sustratoy una densidadrelativa baja de yerbajos,juncos y tallosde gramlneas(85-115/m2). Estasobservaciones representan la 6nica evidenciareciente de que C. noveboracensispueda estar reproduci6ndose en la parte estede los EstadosUnidos. Es necesariodeterminar de forma precisa,el estadoy distribuci6nde esta especieen el este de Norte Am6rica. The eastern extent of the Yellow Rail's (Coturnicopsnoveboracensis) breeding range in North America is poorly defined. Herein we review historicalrecords of the Yellow Rail in easternNorth America, report on 1990 spring and summer observationsof the Yellow Rail in Maine and describehabitats used by Yellow Rails in Maine. Our observations • Currentaddress: Yale University, School of Forestryand Environmental Studies, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA. • Currentaddress: Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Field Headquarters, Westboro, Massachusetts 01581 USA. 509 510] d.P. Gibbseta[. J.Field Ornithol. Autumn 1991 representthe first recentevidence that Yellow Rails might breed in the eastern United States. HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE YELLOW RAIL IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA Although once consideredrestricted to middle and northern portions of North America, west of Lake Ontario and Hudson Bay and east of the Rocky Mountains (Anderson1977), nesting-seasonrecords of Yellow Rails from the LabradorPeninsula (Todd 1963) andfrom Quebecsuggest breedingactivity occursregularly, although quite locally, as far east as the Gasp• Peninsula(David 1983;Gossdin and David 1980, 1982;Terrill 1943; Yank and Aubrey 1984, 1985, 1986; Yank et al. 1987). Nesting- seasonrecords during 1980 in New Brunswickand Nova Scotia(Vickery 1980) provideda further extensionof the easternboundary of the species' known breeding range, and suggestedthat the Yellow Rail might be overlooked in intermediate areas with suitable habitat, such as northern Maine. Although Yellow Rails may be regular fall migrants in Maine (Bent 1926, Palmer 1949), only one publication describestheir occurrencein the stateduring the nestingseason: a report of a nestand eggsnear Calais, citedby Knight (1908) and later by Bent (1926), but disputedby Palmer (1949). Neither Palmer's(1949) Maine Birdsnor his file of bird sightings compiledduring the 1950sand 1960s (Fogler Library SpecialCollections, Universityof Maine, Orono) describeany other springor summerrecords for the Yellow Rail in Maine, and no sightingswere obtained during recent,state-wide surveys for the Maine BreedingBird Atlas (Adamus 1988). Elsewherein the northeasternUnited States,reports of Yellow Rails during the breeding seasonhave been disputedor poorly documented, and frequentlysuggest misidentification of Virginia Rail (Ralluslimicola) vocalizations.Forbush (1927) did not considerthe Yellow Rail a breeder in Massachusetts,and knew of no definitebreeding records for the rest of New England. Bagg and Elliot (1937) reported"many" individuals heardin easternMassachusetts in June 1889, "quite a number"in May- June 1930, and otherssporadically in 1890, 1892, 1898 and 1901. Harris (1945) reporteda pair of Yellow Rails with a brood on 1 August 1944 in Newburyport,Massachusetts, but did not describedistinguishing char- acteristics.Griscom (1949) reportedthat "a positivechorus" of Yellow Rails was heard on the Charles River Marshes in Dedham, Massachu- setts,in July 1931, but later (Griscomand Snyder1955), citing confusion over the calls of the species,stated that "all publishedreferences to the Yellow Rail as nestingor heardcalling in Massachusettsshould therefore be cancelledand revoked." In Connecticut,Merriam (1877) reported breedingnear Middletown in 1874-1875, but was doubtedby Sage et al. (1913). In Vermont, onebird was shotnear Rutland on 18 July 1887 (Baggand Elliot 1937). A Yellow Rail was recordedduring pilot surveys for the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas Project in 1976 (Laughlin and Vol.62, No. 4 YellowRail in Maine [51 1 Kibbe 1985) but not during the main portionof the survey(1977-1981). In New York, a breeding-seasonreport of the Yellow Rail at Cayuga Lake by Kellogg (1962) was disputedby Bull (1974), and the species wasnot encountered during state-wide surveys for the New York Breeding Bird Atlas (Andrle and Carroll 1987). Todd (1940) statedthat, in western Pennsylvania,"without a doubt this rail breedsin the swamp [Pyma- tuning] occasionally."It is notable that authors of historical accounts never reported hearing the characteristic"ticking" calls of the Yellow Rail (e.g., Bagg and Elliot 1937, Brewster 1901, Kellogg 1962), despite allegedlyencountering large numbersof individuals,referring rather to "kicker" calls and calls of "kik-kik-queah," which are more reminiscent of the sympatricVirginia Rail. RECENT OBSERVATIONS OF THE YELLOW RAIL IN MAINE During May and June 1990, we locatedcalling Yellow Rails at four sites in eastern and central Maine (Table 1). The sites were scattered widely among Penobscot,Hancock and Washington counties(Fig. 1). Four of our observationswere of single, calling males, and two calling males were heard at two sites. Most identifications were aural and based on the distinctive,syncopated "ticking" call of territorial males (Walk- inshaw1939). A tape-recordingwas madeof the Milford birdson 7 June. We were able to make a visual identificationon three occasionsby at- tractingbirds with tape-recordedcalls. In two instances,we flushedbirds and observedtheir white-tipped secondaryfeathers. During May, malesbegan calling during twilight (30 min beforedark), usually in short boutsof 5-10 clicks,followed by silent periodsof 2-3 min. Calling becamenearly continuousafter twilight ceased,and contin- ued with little interruptionuntil dawn. Birds locatedin mid-June lacked a twilight calling period,however, and typically commencedcalling well after dark (ca. after 2130-2200 hours),but calledcontinuously thereafter. In late May, maleswere audible at up to 1 km. Following emergencein late May of mosquitosand chorusingfrogs, which interfered with our hearing, males were detectableat <0.25 km, exceptlate at night or on coolnights when mosquitoand frog activity diminished.Unlike Terrill (1943) and Walkinshaw (1939), we did not noticeany diurnal calling (we usuallyremained at wetlands3-6 h after sunriseto surveypopulations of other marsh birds). We did not attempt to confirm nestingat any of the four wetlands where Yellow Rails were present,and it is uncertainwhether the birds observedwere residentbreeding birds, nonbreedingresidents or late mi- grants.Although calling birds were not relocatedduring limited surveys from mid June to early July, birds were not necessarilyabsent during our later surveys.Surveys in Michigan foundthat breedingYellow Rails are vocalon somenights and silenton others(Bart et al. 1984). Calling activityof residentSoras (Porzana carolina) and Virginia Rails diminished about mid June at wetlandsthroughout Maine (J. P. Gibbs and S. M. Melvin, unpubl. data). The range of dates within which we observed 512] J. P. Gibbset al. J.Field Ornithol. Autumn 1991 ß FIGURE1. Locationsof Yellow Rails in Maine during springand summer1990. Yellow Rails in Maine falls within the egg-layingperiod of Yellow Rails in the Upper Peninsulaof Michigan, which occursat a similar latitude to centralMaine. Walkinshaw (1939) and Bookhoutand Stenzel(1987) recordedinitiation of singingactivity during the first week of May, and initiation of egg-layingduring the first week of June and possiblythe last weekof May. Calling activityended by mid July (Stenzel1982). HABITATS OF YELLOW RAILS IN MAINE Three sitesused by Yellow Rails in Maine (Milford, Passadumkeag and Codyville)were large (>400 ha), sedge-and grass-dominatedflood- plains adjacentto free-flowing,third- and fourth-orderstreams (Table Vol.62, No. 4 YellowRail in Maine [51 3 TABLE1. Observationsof Yellow Rails in easternand central Maine during May and
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