Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) Dave Olson Status: State Threatened
Seney NWR, Schoolcraft County, Michigan. 5/22/2008. © Phil Hansbro (Click to view a comparison of Atlas I to II)
In Michigan, the Yellow Rail, begins its The Yellow Rail has been recorded in Schoolcraft, Luce and Chippewa Counties of the distinctive territorial call “tick tick…tick tick UP and in the Houghton Lake marshes tick” in the sedge marshes in late April. Each (Roscommon County) in the NLP (MNFI 2001). spring at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge Since the 1980s, the Yellow Rail has been (Seney NWR), the phones ring off the hook as monitored in the sedge marshes at Seney NWR birders from far away places such as Australia, (Schoolcraft County). When MBBA I was Germany, and England anticipate the spring conducted between 1983 – 1988, only Probable arrival and plan trips in hopes of adding this breeding records were recorded at Seney NWR elusive marsh bird to their life list. The bird is and elsewhere in Schoolcraft County and highly secretive as it prefers to run under the Possible breeding records in Roscommon vegetation rather than fly when disturbed. This County. Since that time, there has been a nighttime specter could easily be within change from Probable to Confirmed breeding at centimeters of the observer’s feet yet the locations in the Upper Peninsula. Most recently observer would never know. in 2006 at Seney NWR, a female was flushed
from a nest as fire lines were being established Distribution north of J-G spillway in preparation for a The Yellow Rail winters along the coast from prescribed burn in late summer (Austin North Carolina west to the coasts of Texas and unpublished data). The nest contained seven into Mexico and parts of central California eggs. Also, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is (Bookhout 1995). The breeding range for the bordered by Wisconsin and Ontario, and both Yellow Rail is primarily central and southern the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas (Cutright et Canada, from the Northwest Territories to New al 2006) and the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas Brunswick. In the U.S., its breeding range (Cadman et al. 2007) had confirmed breeding includes northern North Dakota, the Great blocks. Lakes region and extreme northeast Maine.
There is also a disjunct breeding population that Breeding Biology occurs in the Klamath River Basin in Oregon The Yellow Rail may arrive in Michigan as (Bookhout 1995). early as late April from its wintering grounds on the Texas Coast. Some of those birds that arrive
© 2011 Kalamazoo Nature Center Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) Dave Olson Status: State Threatened in Michigan will undoubtedly continue north to (Conway et al. 2008) but employ monitoring establish breeding territories in Canada. In methods specifically for Yellow Rails. A Michigan, nest building and egg laying begins regional coordinated effort would assist in in late May to early June (Stenzel 1983). determining the spatial distribution of the Incubation lasts about 18 days after the last egg Yellow Rail. is laid (Elliot and Morrison 1979). All eggs hatch within 24 hours and brooding of the young ceases within three weeks (Stalheim 1974).
Abundance and Population Trends Because information continues to trickle in regarding the locations of Yellow Rails, there is really no known abundance number. Due to the bird’s secretive nocturnal habits, trend data is poor at best. Until accurate and reasonably sound survey estimates are developed trying to estimate population trends would be futile.
Seney NWR continues to be a focal point for Yellow Rail activities and research in the Upper Peninsula. Current research underway at Seney centers on developing tools to assist resource managers in calculating abundance estimates and identify breeding habitat of Yellow Rails (Austin 2007).
Conservation Needs There are many aspects of this bird’s biology and life history strategy that still need to be examined, including information on adult and juvenile survival rates, along with estimates of lifetime reproductive success. Tied to life history information is the need to understand management’s role in providing habitat during all stages of the bird’s life cycle. Current research at Seney NWR has been updating the role fire plays on the breeding habitat of rails (Austin 2007). Also, research conducted on the rails in Texas has provided more information on the bird’s wintering habitat (Grace et al. 2005). One effort that would greatly increase knowledge of rails in Michigan would be conducting a cooperative Great Lakes survey. The survey could be designed similarly to the National Marshbird Monitoring Program
© 2011 Kalamazoo Nature Center Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) Dave Olson Status: State Threatened Literature Cited noveboracensis). Master’s thesis, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Austin, J. 2007. Fire ecology of northern sedge Stenzel, J.R. 1982. Ecology of breeding meadows: Factors influencing yellow rails Yellow Rails at Seney National Wildlife and other marsh birds at Seney National Refuge. Master’s thesis, Ohio State Univ., Wildlife Refuge. Research Proposal USGS- Columbus BRD Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown ND. Suggested Citation Bookhout, T.A. 1995. Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis). In The Birds Olson, D. 2010. Yellow Rail (Coturnicops of North America, No. 139 (A. Poole and F. noveboracensis). In Chartier, A.T., J.J. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Baldy, and J.M. Brenneman (eds.). 2010. Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American The Second Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C. Kalamazoo Nature Center. Kalamazoo, MI. Cadman, M.D, D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Accessed online at:
© 2011 Kalamazoo Nature Center