Eastern Black Rail Status Assessment
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STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE EASTERN BLACK RAIL ALONG THE ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS OF NORTH AMERICA THE CENTER FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY Status and distribution of the eastern black rail along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America Bryan D. Watts The Center for Conservation Biology College of William and Mary Virginia Commonwealth University Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 Recommended Citation: Watts, B. D. 2016. Status and distribution of the eastern black rail along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America. The Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-16-09. College of William and Mary/Virginia Commonwealth University, Williamsburg, VA. 148 pp. Project Funded By: The Northeast Regional Conservation Needs Program United States Fish and Wildlife Service The Center for Conservation Biology Cover Illustration: Virginia Greene The Center for Conservation Biology is an organization dedicated to discovering innovative solutions to environmental problems that are both scientifically sound and practical within today’s social context. Our philosophy has been to use a general systems approach to locate critical information needs and to plot a deliberate course of action to reach what we believe are essential information endpoints. Table of Contents Contents Executive Summary _________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Acknowledgments ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Introduction ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Objective ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Methods _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Study Area _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Source Materials ________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Literature _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Museum Specimens __________________________________________________________________________________ 7 e-bird __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Targeted Black Rail Surveys _________________________________________________________________________ 8 Data Collection __________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Spatial Resolution ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Anecdotal Data _______________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Status ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Legal Status and Ranking ____________________________________________________________________________ 9 Population Size _______________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Uncertainty ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Trends ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10 Likelihood of Breeding ________________________________________________________________________________ 10 Habitat Use _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Grassy Fields ________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Freshwater Wetlands _______________________________________________________________________________ 12 Impoundments ______________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Coastal Prairies ______________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Tidal Salt Marshes __________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Results __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Study-Wide _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Legal Status and Rank ______________________________________________________________________________ 13 TABLE OF CONTENTS Historic Occurrence _________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Recent Occurrence __________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Northeast _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 20 Historic Occurrence _________________________________________________________________________________ 20 Recent Occurrence __________________________________________________________________________________ 22 Recent Population estimate ________________________________________________________________________ 24 Trends ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 24 Narratives for Northeastern States ________________________________________________________________ 26 Maine ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 New Hampshire __________________________________________________________________________________ 28 Massachusetts ____________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Rhode Island ______________________________________________________________________________________ 34 Vermont ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 36 Connecticut _______________________________________________________________________________________ 38 New York __________________________________________________________________________________________ 42 Pennsylvania ______________________________________________________________________________________ 46 New Jersey ________________________________________________________________________________________ 50 Delaware __________________________________________________________________________________________ 55 Maryland __________________________________________________________________________________________ 59 Washington D.C. __________________________________________________________________________________ 65 Virginia ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 67 West Virginia _____________________________________________________________________________________ 73 Southeast _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 75 Historic Occurrence _________________________________________________________________________________ 75 Recent Occurrence __________________________________________________________________________________ 77 Recent Population estimate ________________________________________________________________________ 79 Trends ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 79 Narratives for Southeastern States ________________________________________________________________ 81 North Carolina ____________________________________________________________________________________ 81 Tennessee _________________________________________________________________________________________ 86 South Carolina ____________________________________________________________________________________ 89 TABLE OF CONTENTS Georgia ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 93 Florida _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 96 Alabama _________________________________________________________________________________________ 103 Mississippi ______________________________________________________________________________________ 106 Louisiana ________________________________________________________________________________________ 108 Texas ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 111 Discussion ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 117 Distribution __________________________________________________________________________________________ 117 Population Estimate _________________________________________________________________________________ 118 Population Trends ___________________________________________________________________________________ 118 Habitat Use ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 120 Tidal Salt Marshes ________________________________________________________________________________ 121 Impoundments ____________________________________________________________________________________ 122 Grassy Fields and Freshwater Wetlands ________________________________________________________ 122 Coastal Prairie _____________________________________________________________________________________ 122 Recommendations ___________________________________________________________________________________ 123 Complete 2014-2018 coastal surveys ___________________________________________________________ 123 Establish inland survey network_________________________________________________________________ 123 Compile database of black rail surveys