COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Yellow Rail Coturnicops noveboracensis in Canada SPECIAL CONCERN 2009 COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows: COSEWIC. 2009. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Yellow Rail Coturnicops noveboracensis in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 32 pp. (www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). Previous report(s): COSEWIC. 2001. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the yellow rail Coturnicops noveboracensis in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 62 pp. (www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). Alvo, R. and M. Robert. 1999. COSEWIC status report on the yellow rail Coturnicops noveboracensis in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. 1-62 pp. Production note: COSEWIC would like to acknowledge Andrew G. Horn for writing the status report on the Yellow Rail Coturnicops noveboracensis in Canada, prepared under contract with Environment Canada, overseen and edited by Jon McCracken, Co-chair, COSEWIC Birds Species Specialist Subcommittee. For additional copies contact: COSEWIC Secretariat c/o Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Tel.: 819-953-3215 Fax: 819-994-3684 E-mail: COSEWIC/[email protected] http://www.cosewic.gc.ca Également disponible en français sous le titre Ếvaluation et Rapport de situation du COSEPAC sur le Râle jaune (Coturnicops noveboracensis) au Canada. Cover illustration/photo: Yellow Rail — Illustration by Judie Shore. ©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2010. Catalogue CW69-14/408-2010E-PDF ISBN 978-1-100-15056-7 Recycled paper COSEWIC Assessment Summary Assessment Summary – November 2009 Common name Yellow Rail Scientific name Coturnicops noveboracensis Status Special Concern Reason for designation Relatively little is known about this small, secretive rail. It is primarily restricted to shallow, dense, grassy marshes and wet meadows. Most of its breeding range (about 90%) is in Canada. It is relatively uncommon in most areas; populations are most widespread and common in coastal areas of Hudson and James Bay in northern Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. It winters in shallow marshes that occur in a narrow band extending from Texas to the Carolinas. The species is close to meeting some criteria for Threatened status because of its relatively small population size, compressed wintering range, ongoing threats to breeding and wintering wetland habitats, and evidence for local declines in several parts of its breeding range. Occurrence Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick Status history Designated Special Concern in April 1999. Status re-examined and confirmed in November 2001 and in November 2009. iii COSEWIC Executive Summary Yellow Rail Coturnicops noveboracensis Species information The Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) is a small, quail-like, yellowish brown rail most easily distinguished from other rails by its buff and black striped back and white wing patches. It is highly secretive, and most often detected by its call, a patterned tic-tic, tic-tic-tic that is repeated at night for many minutes at a time. Distribution Yellow Rails breed in the Hudson and James Bay lowlands from Churchill, Manitoba to northwestern Quebec, and from the eastern edge of British Columbia and southern Northwest Territories through Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, southern Ontario, southern Quebec and perhaps New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They also breed in the northern edge of most of the border states south of Canada, with a disjunct population in southern Oregon. About 90% of the breeding range occurs in Canada. They winter in a narrow band along the coast from the Carolinas to southern Texas. Habitat Yellow Rails nest in wet marshy areas of short, grass-like vegetation, usually sedge (especially Carex spp.), that have an overlying dry mat of dead vegetation that they use to roof their nests. On migration and in winter, they use a broader range of habitats, including coastal marshes, rice fields, and wet hay fields. iv Biology The Yellow Rail is one of the most secretive and least understood North American birds. Males are apparently territorial, yet often have overlapping home ranges and may sometimes be colonial. Females lay clutches of about eight eggs. Young are partially dependent on the adults for food until about 11 days of age, and are fully independent at 35 days. Age at first breeding is 1 year for other rail species but unknown for Yellow Rails. Survival beyond hatching is also unknown; adult return rates are believed to be less than 11%, but, as is typical of rails, this low figure may reflect high dispersal rates, rather than high mortality. Yellow Rails feed mainly on beetles and other small arthropods, as well as seeds of the grass-like vegetation that dominates their habitat. After breeding, they appear to travel to particular areas to moult, a 2-week period during which they are flightless. Migrants travel at night in small flocks, and may stage in particular areas along the way. The main predators of Yellow Rails are raptors, although they are subject to a broad range of mammalian and avian predators. Population sizes and trends Yellow Rails are not well sampled by standardized bird surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, Christmas Bird Count, or Marsh Monitoring Program. Currently, only breeding bird atlas programs and surveys specifically targeting the species offer reliable information on occurrence, population size and trends. Based on the amount of available habitat in some regions, the known number of sites in others, and the typical number of birds detected at any given site, the previous status report estimated that about 10,000 individuals nest in Canada. This estimate remains unchanged by what few data have been gathered since then. Nonetheless, anecdotal reports of local declines, together with evidence of declines from atlas data, local reports, and localized habitat loss along Hudson and James Bay, suggest the population may have declined in the past decade, albeit probably by less than 30%. Limiting factors and threats Habitat loss and degradation are believed to be the chief threats to this species. Threats vary regionally, and include co-opting of habitat for agriculture and development, grazing by livestock, increased levels of localized grazing by Snow Geese along Hudson and James Bay, invasive plants, hydrological changes because of climate change and drainage, and water pollution. Mortality from agricultural operations (e.g., hay and rice cropping) and collisions with tall structures such as telecommunication towers occur frequently enough to be considered as threats. The Yellow Rail winters in a narrow belt of wetlands habitat in the southeastern U.S.; this habitat is under development pressure; the wintering population is also exposed to relatively frequent catastrophic weather events (e.g., hurricanes) that occur in this region. v Special significance of the species The Yellow Rail is particularly valued by birders because of its rarity and secretive habits. It is also one of several species that serve as indicators of the health of fens and wet prairies, which are often overlooked by conservation schemes that focus on more “typical” wetlands. Existing protection Yellow Rails are protected under the Canadian Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 and the United States’ Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 1918. In November 2001, COSEWIC assessed this species as Special Concern. They are currently federally listed in Canada as Special Concern under Schedule 1 of the Species At Risk Act, a listing which offers no additional protection, but does require drafting of a management plan for the species. They are also provincially listed as Special Concern in Ontario and listed as Threatened in Quebec. In the US, they are listed as a Migratory Nongame Bird of Special Concern. vi COSEWIC HISTORY The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was created in 1977 as a result of a recommendation at the Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference held in 1976. It arose from the need for a single, official, scientifically sound, national listing of wildlife species at risk. In 1978, COSEWIC designated its first species and produced its first list of Canadian species at risk. Species designated at meetings of the full committee are added to the list. On June 5, 2003, the Species at Risk Act (SARA) was proclaimed. SARA establishes COSEWIC as an advisory body ensuring that species will continue to be assessed under a rigorous and independent scientific process. COSEWIC MANDATE The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assesses the national status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, or other designatable units that are considered to be at risk in Canada. Designations are made on native species for the following taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, arthropods, molluscs, vascular plants, mosses, and lichens. COSEWIC MEMBERSHIP COSEWIC comprises members from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal entities (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Federal Biodiversity Information Partnership, chaired by the Canadian Museum of Nature), three