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Yellow rail near US27
Posted by Barry Heimlich
almost 9 years ago
7 Comments
On Oct 17 I saw 3 yellow rails along the L-18 levee about 2 miles north of the Broward-Palm Beach County line. Photo is very out-of-focus but shows distinctive silhouette and light yellow secondary feathers. Very distinctive fluttery low flight pattern. Take US27 about 2 miles north of Palm Beach line to first right turn to bridge over L-18 canal, after crossing bridge, make right onto levee gravel road southeast. Birds flushed as from grass on both shoulders of road as I approached within a half-mile of the bridge.
Comments
Barry, the bird in your photo is clearly an Eastern Meadowlark.
Brian, I don't blame you for questioning my ID, but what I saw were not Meadowlarks, I know what Meadowlarks look like. Meadowlarks perch high on grasses, don't hide in the grass, and are strong flyers like blackbirds. The 3 birds I saw from about 15' were flushed like quail one at a time from hiding in shallow grass (about 6"-12"), had weak fluttery fights with a few shallow rapid beats alternating with short glides, and they quickly settled down to hide again in the shallow grass. Go to https://barrysbirds.shutterfly.com/birdingtrips/5849 to see a markup of the out-of-focus picture compared with a sketch of Yellow Rail in similar orientation from Nat Geo Birds of NA, which is very much like what I saw. My bird was flying away with delta-like shape from behind, was sparrow sized, had a very short all black, rounded, spread tail, black head and back, and short black rounded wings with spread primaries. The white or very pale yellow secondary feathers were very prominent. Unfortunately, my camera focused on the power lines in the distance. I went back to the site today with a friend and spent almost 2 hours searching for the birds without luck unfortunately. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that they were Yellow Rails, not Meadowlarks.
Obviously Barry, I wasn't there to see what you saw; I can only go by the evidence you've presented. Your photo markup is intriguing yet inconclusive, in my view. I also note that you've changed your description of the secondaries, from "light yellow secondary feathers" to "white or very pale yellow secondary feathers."
What I do know is that there are Eastern Meadowlarks in the grass along that road; I've flushed them many times when driving along the road in August/September. When they flush, they often fly "with a few shallow rapid beats alternating with short glides," exactly as you described the flight of your birds.
What I also know is that the grassy areas along that road would be a very unexpected place to find Yellow Rails.
Brian,
I have to agree with you. Generally you need a dog to flush a Yellow rail and seeing 3 at the place is a good indication that you have a Meadowlark as that would be VERY atypical habitat and behavior for a Yelow rail.
All the best,
Grover
Based on Barry's description, I too agree that the birds were meadowlarks; the flight behavior is spot-on. Plus, Yellow Rails probably never attain a height of 10' when flushing, and they usually don't fly more than a few feet. Plus, THREE birds at once is totally unprecedented for Florida. I don't think anybody has ever reported even two birds at once.
Best regards,
Bill Pranty
Bayonet Point, Florida
I respect you guys, but I saw what I saw. They weren't Meadowlarks. They looked like drawing from Nat Geo with prominent white or very light pale yellow secondarily and a very short all black tail.
A favored quotation:
https://twitter.com/williamlidwell/status/545228177568989184
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