Wildlife Spotlight: Clapper Rail
Clapper Rail
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One of the most abundant and characteristic animals throughout the
Big Bend coastal region is the clapper rail, known locally as the marsh
hen. Although so abundant it is considered a game bird, the marsh hen
is seldom hunted or even seen in the west coast salt marshes where it
lives. Clappers are the most vocal bird in the region, emitting a harsh,
clattering call day or night.
In Birds of America (1842), Audubon described the secretive
nature of the rail: “On the least appearance of danger, they lower
the head, stretch out the neck, and move off with incomparable speed,
always in perfect silence.They have the power of compressing their body
to such a degree as frequently to force a passage between two stems
so close that one could hardly believe it possible for them to squeeze
themselves through.” The expression “thin as a rail”
is well founded. The breasts of their thin bodies may measure less than
an inch and a quarter.
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