Clapper Rail
Rallus crepitans
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderGruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)
- FamilyRallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)
- GenusRallus (Typical Rails)
- SpeciesRallus crepitans (Clapper Rail)
About the Clapper Rail
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. This species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the mangrove rail.
The clapper rail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other rails in the genus Rallus and coined the binomial name Rallus crepitans. Gmelin based his description on those by Thomas Pennant and John Latham. The type locality is Long Island, New York. The genus Rallus had been erected in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The specific epithet crepitans is Latin meaning "breaking wind" or "resounding".
The clapper rail was formerly treated as a subspecies of the mangrove rail (Rallus longirostris). The decision to treat the clapper rail as a separate species was based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Clapper Rail in Everglades National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Everglades National Park
King Rail
Rallus elegans
Virginia Rail
Rallus limicola
American Purple Gallinule
Porphyrio martinica
Common Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
American Coot
Fulica americana
Sora
Porzana carolina
Western Swamphen
Porphyrio porphyrio
Yellow Rail
Coturnicops noveboracensis
Sandhill Crane
Grus canadensis
Limpkin
Aramus guarauna
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 2 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 9 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Clapper Rail in Everglades National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Clapper Rail sighting in Everglades National Park, based on 73 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Clapper Rail in Everglades National Park?
November has the highest sighting rate for Clapper Rail in Everglades National Park in our monthly data.