#porzana carolina

[occasionallybirds]

Sora, aka Carolina rail or meadow chicken (Porzana carolina)

October 16, 2023

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Tinicum, Pennsylvania

[haveyouseenthisbirdpoll]

Photo source

Map source

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Migratory May day 22: Sora

This one's a silly little baby :)

Reference photo by Brittany Turner, Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota

[birdblues]

Sora

[dwmmphotography]

Sora spend most of their time in thick marsh vegetation so they are more often heard than seen.

[floweryvictory]

SORA!!! He was being so brave; they’re usually quite secretive:)

[herpsandbirds]

Sora (Porzana carolina), male, family Rallidae, order Gruiformes, Whistler, BC, Canada

photograph by Whistler Naturalists

[hawkpartys]

Sora (Porzana carolina)

[new-dinosaurs]

Porzana payevskyi Zelenkov et al., 2023 (new species)

(Type coracoid [shoulder bone] of Porzana payevskyi, from Zelenkov et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: payevskyi = for Vladimir Payevsky [Russian ornithologist]

Age: Pleistocene (Gelasian)

Where found: Malye Goly, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia

How much is known: A partial right coracoid (shoulder bone)

Notes: Porzana is a genus of small rails including the spotted crake (P. porzana) of Eurasia and Africa, the sora (P. carolina) of North America, and the Australian crake (P. fluminea). P. payevskyi was large for a member of this genus and had a slightly more elongated coracoid than its close living relatives.

Reference: Zelenkov, N., E. Palastrova, N. Martynovich, A. Klementiev, A. Sizov, and N. Volkova. 2023. A tiny duck (Sibirionetta formozovi sp. nov.), a giant grey partridge (Titanoperdix felixi gen. et sp. nov.), a new rail (Porzana payevskyi sp. nov.), and other birds from the Early Pleistocene of Baikalian Siberia. Biological Communications 68: 261–272. doi: 10.21638/spbu03.2023.406

[pickerelstripe]

[CM] Birds - Biyaw 1

How are we already to our second-last bird post? Holy cow, these are flying by! Today we’ve got the first half of biyaw* species - birds that are hunted often and easily by the Clan. This is the longest list by far, as ClayClan considers most birds to be fair game.

Below are translations for two ducks, warblers, and... a ton more!

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) - Mwek Small big-headed duck; females are black-and-white, males are largely white with glossy head feathers. Present in winter, spring, and fall. Have the same diet as mallards. The first time I saw buffleheads, they were on a pond in Missouri just after New Year’s - they’re cute little fellows! Hey, didn’t we see this before? I moved buffleheads from eyawoon* to biyaw* after posting the eyawoon* list - woops! They’ll be here from now on.

Green-winged teal (Anas carolinensis) - Hapwip Small duck with dark brown and green markings on the head. Present year-round but most common in spring and fall. Feed on various grasses, insects, molluscs, that sort of thing. 

Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) - Oo’oo Medium-sized bird with clean brown-and-white feathers and a curved yellow beak. Present in summer and fall. Feed on insects (notably caterpillars and cicadas), eggs, snails, small reptiles, and fruit. 

Sora (Porzana carolina) - Kipipip Small chickenlike rail with brown-and-gray feathers and a bright yellow bill. Present in summer and fall, but more common in summer. Feed on seeds, insects, and snails.

American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) - Assuassu Handsome yellow birds - males have clean black wings and foreheads, females are duller overall. Abundant year-round. Feed on seeds. Goldfinches are one of my favorite species - I plan to get a tattoo of one!

Rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) - Shashwee Blackbird with seasonal coloration; in winter, males and females are mottled black-and-brown, but in spring breeding males develop crisp black feathers. Present year-round, but most common in spring and fall. Feed on insects, small aquatic animals, seeds, and sometimes other birds.

Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) - Chup Big blackbird with glossy black feathers, females being duller, and white eyes. Present year-round but most abundant in spring and early summer, falling in numbers as the year goes on. Feed on numerous things; insects, frogs, minnows, lizards, and eggs. 

Yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia) - Swee’k’k Small yellow bird, males having reddish breast streaks. Present in early summer through fall. Feed mostly on insects.

Black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) - Eekeek Very distinct mottled black-and-white bird. Present in summer and fall. Feed on insects. 

Palm warbler (Setophaga palmarum) - Swee Unique warbler with a colorful face and duller body. Present in spring and summer. Feed on insects. Unlike other warblers, palm warblers spend much of their time foraging on the ground.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) - Pfswee Distinct gray-and-black bird with white spots on the forehead and flanks. Present year-round, but abundant in summer and fall. Feed on insects and fruit. Like some other birds, yellow-rumped warblers display different coloration based on their location - “myrtle” warblers are the ones present on ClayClan territory, but there’s also the striking black-and-yellow “Goldman’s” down south! 

Northern parula (Setophaga americana) - Rreep Blue, yellow, and white warbler. Present in summer and fall. Feed on insects. Parulas nest on hanging mosses and lichens high in the tree canopy, so their eggs are rarely encountered by Clan cats.

Common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) - Wishywee Yellow-and-tan warbler, males with a striking black mask over their eyes. Present in summer and fall. Feed mostly on insects. Wishywee is another one of my favorite words :]

[otterpillow]

Virginia rail at the Loch (April 2020)

[squawkoverflow]

A new variant has been added!

Sora (Porzana carolina) © John Livzey Ridgway

It hatches from black, common, different, distinctive, high, juvenile, much, secretive, shallow, short, shy, small, and yellow eggs.

squawkoverflow - the ultimate bird collecting game          🥚 hatch    ❤️ collect     🤝 connect

[laimelady]

Sora aka Meadow Chicken 251 Malibu Legacy Park Southern California_ by Pekabo Via Flickr: "Owing to its shy and retiring habits, it is seldom seen, but, if the observer lies concealed near some open place in the bog, he may catch a glimpse of it as it comes out to feed, stepping daintily over the bog, flirting its short tail up and down or spreading it out in display, and nodding its head back and forth with a graceful dovelike motion. Its toes are so long and its body is so light that it is easily supported on the lily pads or on a few floating reeds. It takes long steps when walking, but when running its tracks may be a foot apart. If alarmed by a sudden movement or sound, it runs to cover with lowered head and outstretched neck and with wings and plumage closely pressed against the narrowed body, as it slips out of sight in the narrow aisles between the reeds. Robert J. Sim (1911), who kept a sora rail in captivity until it became quite tame, says: A rail which is quite at ease is very different in appearance from one that is frightened or at all nervous. Most birds of this kind to be seen in taxidermal collections look as if they had been "scared stiff"--a state of things which is, perhaps, consistent enough. But a live, comfortable rail going about his own business is as graceful a bird as you could find, and plump like a guinea hen or a Hubbard squash. The tail is carried in a horizontal position or droops slightly. On the other hand, when filled with apprehension the bird is very slim, the head is lowered and extended, and the tail is cocked up or is twitched up at every step." www.birdsbybent.com/

[birdblues]

Sora

[triruntu]

Day 220, a request from an anon for the sora! 

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[thelostcanyon]

A juvenile Sora (Porzana carolina), the most common and widespread species of rail in North America, Canoa Ranch, Pima County, Arizona.