Birds of Cuba, Vagrant Visitors, Introduced Birds and Possibilities
Rails
Râles
Rallidae
Lives, Habitats & Pictures of the Rails
There has been eight species of rails seen in Cuba. The Zapata Rail has not been seen for almost 100 years. The King Rail, Clapper Rail, Black Rail, and the Yellow-breasted Crake are native rails to the Caribbean islands. The Virgina Rail, Yellow Rail and Sora are migrant but are native birds to Canada and the United States. The Black Rail is the smallest member of the rail family. This sparrow-sized bird also prefers a habitat along the coastline in the same regions as the other rails.
The rails are most often heard and hardly ever seen. These secretive birds prefer dense marsh which makes access to seeing them very difficult. There may be a possibility of seeing these birds when the young are being raised, as they move about in search of food more often. The rails become active in the evening and feed into the darkness, and even when they migrate they use the cover of darkness.
