Ridgway's Rail (Rallus obsoletus)
About the Ridgway's Rail
Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) is a species of bird found principally along the Pacific coast of North America from the San Francisco Bay Area to southern Baja California, as well as in some regions of the Gulf of California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a large cinnamon-brown rail that lives in brackish tidal marshes and rarely flies. Its name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway. This species is closely related to the clapper rail, and until recently was considered a subspecies. It has a long, downward curving bill and is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and conspicuous whitish rump patch. It is most active nocturnally and crepuscularly.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 99 recordings for this species: 26 CC BY-NC-SA · 6 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Mexico, United States in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Bogota RailRallus semiplumbeusrecording
- Brown-cheeked RailRallus indicusrecording
- Ecuadorian RailRallus aequatorialisrecording
- King RailRallus elegansrecording
- Mangrove RailRallus longirostrisrecording
- Virginia RailRallus limicolarecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.