Virginia Rail

Birds > Gruiformes & Rails

The Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) is a secretive, masterfully camouflaged marsh bird that gave rise to the classic expression ‘thin as a rail.’ Navigating the impenetrable cattail jungles and bulrush marshes of North America, this slender wetland runner...

Tasmanian Nativehen

Birds > Gruiformes & Rails

The Tasmanian Nativehen (Tribonyx mortierii), affectionately dubbed the ‘Turbo Chook’ by Tasmanians, is a comical, fast-running flightless rail endemic to the island of Tasmania. Completely incapable of flight but capable of sprinting at highway speeds of...

Horned Coot

Birds > Rails & Coots

The Horned Coot (Fulica cornuta) is an extraordinary, giant aquatic rail found exclusively on the freezing, windswept volcanic lakes of the high Andean Puna. Renowned for its bizarre, erectile black ‘horn’ of flesh and feathers that protrudes from its...

Clapper Rail

Birds > Finfoots & Rails

The Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personatus) is one of the rarest, most enigmatic, and critically endangered waterbirds on Earth. The sole Asian representative of the ancient family Heliornithidae, this bizarre waterbird combines a dagger-like yellow bill, a jet-black...

Baillon’s Crake

Birds > Rails & Coots

Baillon’s Crake (Zapornia pusilla) is the smallest species of rail in Europe and Africa, barely larger than a common starling. Named in honor of French naturalist Louis Antoine François Baillon, this tiny, exquisite marsh phantom navigates the densest aquatic...