9 inches long. The Virginia Rail is a small chicken-like marsh bird with a compact body and a short pointed tail. It has brown-and-black mottled upperparts, a white throat, a rust-brown breast, and black-and-white barred belly. The face is gray. The long bill is red and is slightly curved downward. The legs are orange-brown. The eye color is red to reddish-brown. Sexes are similar. The juvenile is darker.
The Virginia Rail is an uncommon spring and fall migrant in the Omaha area and rare in the forest. The best place to see it in Fontenelle Forest is along the stream or on the edges of the Great Marsh. Due to its secretive nature it is seldom seen even though it may be around.
The Virginia Rail is a secretive bird of freshwater marshes. It most often remains hidden in dense vegetation. The Virginia Rail possesses many adaptations for moving through its habitat, including a laterally compressed body, long toes, and flexible vertebrae. It prefers to escape danger by running through marsh vegetation rather than flying. If forced to fly in order to escape it will only fly a short distance. Regardless of its apparent weak flight, it migrates long distances each year. The call of the Virginia Rail is a series of pig-like grunts. Also a repeated “kid-dik, kid-dik”
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