| As notoriously secretive as the Yellow Rail, this species at least can be coaxed into view on occasions in North Carolina because it breeds in the state. Hearing a Black Rail call in our coastal marshes isn't overly challenging, as long as one visits the marshes at night or twilight. The birds seldom call during the day, and thus are more responsive to tapes and being observed in dark conditions. Occasionally birds can be flushed underfoot by walking, or by dragging a weighted rope, but most observations are done by watching for the birds to cross a tiny opening in response to a taped song or call. As with Yellow Rails, the overall range on the continent is imperfectly known, but the Black Rail both nests and winters along the state's coast, and possibly breeds inland (at least formerly). For breeding, birds favor extensive brackish marshes dominated by Black Needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) and/or Saltmeadow Cordgrass (Spartina patens), but they also nest in fresh marshes and wet grasslands, as long as the vegetation is waist-high or less. In winter, the species seems restricted to the brackish marshes, but the extent of the winter range is very poorly known.
Sadly, censuses of some of the coastal marshes in the past two decade have shown an alarming decline in breeding numbers in NC and VA, for no obvious reason (unless the marshes are becoming fire-suppressed or are being affected by increased salinity or higher water levels). Tropical storms that flood marshes might also be a factor, though other rail species do not seem to be affected. As a result, in 2018 it was considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Federal listing as Threatened. In October 2020, the Eastern subspecies (L. j. jamaicensis) -- the one on the Atlantic Coast -- was officially listed as Threatened. As a result, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission elevated the State Status from Special Concern to now State Threatened. |