Dan's Feathursday Feature: Virginia Rail
When you visit the doctor, there’s a regular routine that we’re all familiar with. It might be a sore throat that brought you to the clinic, but even as you’re explaining what ails you, Doc is taking your temperature, checking your blood pressure, and probably listening to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope. Your body is a complex unity of interacting systems, and when something happens to upset that balance, it will usually be evident in the so-called vital signs. High blood pressure, low blood sugar, elevated body temperature—these are signs that something is wrong somewhere.
The natural environment is a complex unity of interacting systems, and when things get out of sync, it shows—if you know where to look. When environmental scientists want to assess the health of the natural world, there are ways to take the environment’s temperature and check its blood pressure, and you might be surprised how similar they are to a doctor checking your pulse.
In the case of the human body, the circulatory system is one of the first things a physician will check, and the environment is no different. Water is the environment’s lifeblood, and scientists learn much about the environment’s health by following the water. How much water falls? How does it flow from higher land to low land? How quickly does it flow? Where does it stop along the way? How is it cleansed along the way?
Most environmental scientists will tell you that the best way to check the health of an environment’s circulatory system is to wade into its wetlands and marshes. These are the wrist of the environment, where its pulse can be checked. That’s why environmental scientists spend a lot of time up to their elbows in water, high grasses and mosquitoes, monitoring water levels and the presence or absence of key indicator species of plant and animal life.
The Virginia Rail is one of those key indicators. Rails are a small group of secretive marsh birds that are more often heard than seen. The Virginia Rail and the Sora are probably the most numerous and relatively easy to find. Other rails, like the Yellow Rail or the Black Rail, are so secretive and so skilled at hiding that seeing one—or even just hearing one—can almost be considered the Holy gRail of birding. (Sorry….)
The Virginia Rail is a small bird, just a tad larger than a starling. It sleuths through dense stands of cattail and other marsh reeds, sticking its long bill into the marsh bottom looking for snails, bloodsuckers, and other delicacies. Its long toes allow it practically to walk on water—all it needs is a tiny bit of surface vegetation to scamper about. And here's a neat evolutionary adaptation. The feathers of the Virginia Rail’s forehead are specially fortified to withstand the wear as it pushes through the thick marsh brush. If you've ever cut a finger or a shin on a bullrush, you'll appreciate how important this is!
Because the Virginia Rail is right about at the top of the food chain, its presence (or absence) can allow us to make assumptions about what other flora and fauna are likely present to support this secretive bird. In other words, count the number of Virginia Rails and their cousins, and you have your finger on the pulse of the wetlands. I do not mean this figuratively. Every year in the NE Illinois and NW Indiana area, from early May through mid-June, armies of trained volunteer naturalists fan out to assigned wetlands and marshes with portable speakers. They call for the Virginia Rail and other marsh birds, record how many birds they hear and/or see, and report the data to various organizations for analysis. In the small patch I monitor, so far this summer I was able to locate three Virginia Rails and a half dozen of their cousin, the Sora. No Yellow Rails or Black Rails….yet.
Because the Virginia Rail is such a master of hide-and-seek, I have sat for some pretty long spells, hoping to get a photo of one that I know is very near. But I consider myself lucky if I catch even a brief glimpse. That’s OK. The wait is usually worth it, anyway. Marshes are so full of interesting creatures that even if I don't see the rail, I'll probably see some other marsh bird, or maybe a mink, or a water snake.
Dan's Feathursday Feature is a regular contribution to the COS blog featuring the thoughts, insights and pictures of Chicago birder, Dan Lory on birds of the Chicago region.