Clapper Rail Identification Tips:
Bird Length about 12 inches
Wingspan: Less than 2 feet
Fairly large bird with a short taild, round wings. Clapper Rails are ground-dwelling marsh birds. With long, slightly curved bills. Grayish-brown cap, hindneck, back and upperwings. Brown back feathers and wing coverts edged with gray. The male and females look similiar. Young clapper rails are similar to adults, but upperparts darker
4 sub-species of Clapper rails occur. One on the east coast, one along the gulf coast and two on the west coast.
Very young Clapper Rails can be mistaken for Black Rails but are distinguished by their dark eyes. Black rails have red eyes. The Virginia Rail is smaller and has a red bill. The King Rail is very similar, but is more common in freshwater marshes.
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