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Clapper rail
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{{short description|New world bird of salt marshes, recently split into different species}} {{Speciesbox | image = Rallus crepitans.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Rallus crepitans'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T62155296A132306811 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T62155296A132306811.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Rallus | species = crepitans | authority = [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|JF Gmelin]], 1789 | range_map = Rallus crepitans map.svg | range_map_caption = {{leftlegend|#7137C8|Year-round}}{{leftlegend|#ff6600|Breeding}} }} The '''clapper rail''' ('''''Rallus crepitans''''') is a member of the rail family, [[Rallidae]]. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. This species was formerly considered to be [[conspecific]] with the [[mangrove rail]]. [[File:Clapper Rail.jpg|thumb|right|South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center - Texas]] ==Taxonomy== The clapper rail was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1789 by the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] in his revised and expanded edition of [[Carl Linnaeus]]'s ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with all the other rails in the [[genus]] ''[[Rallus]]'' and coined the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Rallus crepitans''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=713 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656206 }}</ref> Gmelin based his description on those by [[Thomas Pennant]] and [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Pennant | first=Thomas | author-link=Thomas Pennant | year=1785 | title=Arctic Zoology | volume=2 | publisher=Printed by Henry Hughs | location=London, United Kingdom | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32122270 | page=407; Plate 20 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | page=229, No. 2 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40079002 }}</ref> The [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] is [[Long Island]], New York.<ref name=peters>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=157 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482970 }}</ref> The genus ''Rallus'' had been erected in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''Systema Naturae''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | authorlink=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1| edition=10th | page=153 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii | language=Latin | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727060 }}</ref> The specific epithet ''crepitans'' is [[Latin]] meaning "breaking wind" or "resounding".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=121 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n121/mode/1up }}</ref> The clapper rail was formerly treated as a [[subspecies]] of the [[mangrove rail]] (''Rallus longirostris'').<ref name=peters/> The decision to treat the clapper rail as a separate species was based on the results of a [[molecular phylogenetic]] study that was published in 2013.<ref name=maley>{{Cite journal | last1=Maley | first1=J.M. | last2=Brumfield | first2=R.T. | date=2013 | title=Mitochondrial and next-generation sequence data used to infer phylogenetic relationships and species limits in the Clapper/King Rail complex | journal=The Condor | volume=115 | issue=2 | pages=316–329 | doi=10.1525/cond.2013.110138 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Chesser | first1=R.T. | last2=Banks | first2=R.C. | last3=Cicero | first3=C. | last4=Dunn | first4=J.L. | last5=Kratter | first5=A.W. | last6=Lovette | first6=I.J. | last7=Navarro-Sigüenza | first7=A.G. | last8=Rasmussen | first8=P.C. | last9=Remsen | first9=J.V.J. | last10=Rising | first10=J.D. | last11=Stotz | first11=D.F. | last12=Winker | first12=K. | date=2014 | title=Fifty-fifth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds | journal=The Auk | volume=131 | issue=4 | pages=CSi-CSxv | doi=10.1642/AUK-14-124.1 | doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=ioc/><!-- see NACC 2014-A-5 --> A [[cladogram]] based on the 2013 genetic study is as follows:<ref name=maley/> {{clade|style=font-size:90%;line-height:90% |1={{clade |1=[[Virginia rail]] (''Rallus limicola'') |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=[[Ridgway's rail]] (''Rallus obsoletus'') |2=[[Aztec rail]] (''Rallus tenuirostris'') }} |2={{clade |1=[[Mangrove rail]] (''Rallus longirostris'') |2={{clade |1=[[King rail]] (''Rallus elegans'') |2='''Clapper rail''' (''Rallus crepitans'') }} }} }} }} }} Eight subspecies of the clapper rail are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date= August 2022 | title=Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/flufftails/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=11 October 2022 }}</ref> * ''R. c. crepitans'' Gmelin, JF, 1789 – coastal [[Connecticut]] to northeast [[North Carolina]] (USA) * ''R. c. waynei'' [[William Brewster (ornithologist)|Brewster]], 1899 – coastal southeast USA * ''R. c. saturatus'' [[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1880 – Gulf Coast from southwest [[Alabama]] to northeast Mexico * ''R. c. scottii'' [[George B. Sennett|Sennett]], 1888 – coastal Florida (USA) * ''R. c. insularum'' Brooks, WS, 1920 – [[Florida Keys]] (USA) * ''R. c. coryi'' [[Charles Johnson Maynard|Maynard]], 1887 – Bahamas * ''R. c. caribaeus'' Ridgway, 1880 – Cuba to Puerto Rico, [[Lesser Antilles]] to [[Antigua]] and [[Guadeloupe]] * ''R. c. pallidus'' [[Edward William Nelson|Nelson]], 1905 – north [[Yucatán Peninsula]], islands off [[Quintana Roo]] (southeast Mexico), Ycacos Lagoon ([[Belize]]) ==Description== The clapper rail is a chicken-sized bird that rarely flies. It is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast. Males and females have similar plumage. The bill which curves slightly downwards is orange yellow at the base in males and duller in females. An adult bird has an overall length of {{cvt|32|-|41|cm}} and weighs {{cvt|199|-|400|g}}.<ref name=bow>{{cite web | last1=Rush | first1=S.A. | last2=Gaines | first2=K.F. | last3=Eddleman | first3=W.R. | last4=Conway | first4=C.J. | date=2020 | title=Clapper Rail (''Rallus crepitans''), version 1.0 | editor-last=Rodewald | editor-first=P.G. | work=Birds of the World | location=Ithaca, NY, USA | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | url=https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.clarai11.01 | access-date=11 October 2022 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> ==Distribution and habitat== The clapper rail is found along the Atlantic coasts of the [[East Coast of the United States|eastern U.S.]], the [[Gulf of Mexico]], eastern Mexico, some [[Caribbean islands]], and south through eastern Central America, as well at several inland locales. Populations are stable on the East Coast of the U.S., although the numbers of this bird have declined due to habitat loss. Clapper rails are saltmarsh specialists, and are highly mobile across their range, with females showing weak [[philopatry]] and a lack of philopatry in males.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Coster | first1=S.S. | last2=Welsh | first2=A.B. | last3=Costanzo | first3=G. | last4=Harding | first4=S.R. | last5=Anderson | first5=J.T. | last6=Katzner | first6=T.E. | date=2019 | title=Gene flow connects coastal populations of a habitat specialist, the Clapper Rail ''Rallus crepitans'' | journal=Ibis | volume=161 | issue=1 | pages=66–78 | doi=10.1111/ibi.12599| doi-access=free }}</ref> [[File:ClapperRail2.jpg|thumb|right|Clapper rail in [[Lakeland, Florida|Lakeland]], Florida.]] ==Behaviour== ===Feeding=== These birds eat [[crustacean]]s, aquatic [[insect]]s, and small [[fish]]. They search for food while walking, sometimes probing with their long bills, in shallow water or mud.<ref name=bow/> ===Breeding=== The nest is a large platform of dry grasses and is usually placed on the ground in dense vegetation. The clutch size varies between four and sixteen eggs with an average of nine. The eggs measure {{cvt|42.5|x|30|mm}} and are creamy white with irregular blotches of reddish-brown, grey or lilac. They are incubated for 20 days by both parents with the male incubating at night. The young are brooded by the adults for several days. They become independent of the adults when six weeks old and can fly when 10 weeks old.<ref name=bow/> == References == {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q26235798}} [[Category:Rallus|clapper rail]] [[Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States]] [[Category:Birds of Belize]] [[Category:Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula]] [[Category:Birds of the Caribbean]] [[Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic]] [[Category:Birds of Haiti]] [[Category:Birds described in 1789|clapper rail]] [[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin|clapper rail]]
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