Sora (Crake) aka Sora Rail or Sora Crake
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The Sora (Porzana carolina) is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae.
Distribution / Habitat:
The Sora Rails are found throughout temperate North America, in the weedy swamps of the Atlantic states in great abundance, in the Middle states, and in California. In Ohio they are common summer residents, breeding in the extensive swamps and wet meadows.
The nest is a rude affair made of grass and weeds, placed on the ground in a tussock of grass in a boggy tract of land, where there is a growth of briars, etc., where he may skulk and hide in the wet grass to elude observation. The nest may often be discovered at a distance by the appearance of the stir-rounding grass, the blades of which are in many cases interwoven over the nest, apparently to shield the bird from the fierce rays of the sun, which are felt with redoubled force on the marshes.
The female usually lays 10 to 12 eggs, sometimes as many as 18, in a cup built from marsh vegetation. The eggs do not all hatch together. Both parents incubate and feed the young, who leave the nest soon after they hatch and are able to fly within a month.
They migrate to the southern United States and northern South America. Sora is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, where it can be confused with Spotted Crake. However, the latter species always has spotting on the breast. a streaked crown stripe, and a different wing pattern.
Description:
Adults Soras are 18-21 cm long, with dark-marked brown upperparts, a blue-grey face and underparts, and black and white barring on the flanks. They have a short thick yellow bill, with black markings on the face at the base of the bill and on the throat. Sexes are similar, but young Soras lack the black facial markings and have a whitish face and buff breast.
Diet:
They feed on both vegetable and animal food. Their diet include small, snail shells, worms and larvae of insects, which they extract from the mud.
Call / Song:
The call is a slow whistled ku-vu.
Related Websites: USGS
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