Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Yellow Rail (Coturnocops noveboracensis)

Abundance: Occasional (1 record in each of 2 Tennessee counties, involving single birds)

Status: Transient during late fall; sight records.

Information on Records: 

8 December 1983 (1) Lovelady, Pickett County, Tennessee (Robbie C. Hassler, J. David Hassler; Hassler 1984; Stedman 1984b).

2 November 1997 (1) Warren County, Tennessee (Carolyn H. Bullock, Virginia B. Reynolds, Susan N. McWhirter, Martha G. Waldron; Fekel 1998a).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: The Yellow Rail in Pickett County, Tennessee, was observed from a distance as close as 3 m while it pecked at gravel on the side of a paved secondary road adjacent to a shallow grassy ditch near a creek crossing (Hassler 1984). The Yellow Rail in Warren County, Tennessee, was flushed from a grassy marsh (Fekel 1998a), classic habitat for Yellow Rails.

Remarks: Late fall would appear to be the best time to seek this reticent species.  The Pickett County, Tennessee, sighting represented the latest "fall" sighting--and the only winter record--in the state at the time (Robinson 1990).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited