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The sora rail is a semi-nocturnal bird that often hides in reeds. I was very fortunate to have come across this one during the mid-day hours. Ralph LaPlant Photo

Spending much of its time sneaking curiously around and through reeds in marshes, the Sora Rail is almost continually looking for something to eat. Loaded with fat by fall, they still have the appearance of being as thin as a “rail.”
    Being one of 15 rails in North America, the sora is about 9 inches long, with an olive-brown color on top and a gray color below, and having a short bill, this bird nests on the ground in meadows. Their nest is haphazardly constructed of grass and weeds.
With an incubation period of about 14 days, they lay 7 to 13, and up to 18 eggs that are drab in color, spotted with chestnut and lavender. The incubation period, due to the large number of eggs that are laid over a period of time, starts while the clutch is still incomplete. Therefore, it is possible to observe eggs, downy young, and young several days old in the same nest.
As mentioned before, the sora rail can be observed slithering between rushes and reeds in marshes and swamps. When water is depleted, they will move to cornfields for food. They have even been observed on brushy hillsides as well. They prefer walking to flying, possibly because its body “compresses,” allowing it to walk freely among tightly meshed vegetation.
At one time they were believed to be weak flyers, and as a result, it was further believed that they stayed locally, submerged under water. Some believed they actually hibernated like frogs. This was due to the sudden disappearance and reappearance that occurred every fall and spring. We now know that these birds migrate in “waves,” often leaving on the same night and returning on the same night.                         
 Migrating south to the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida and up to the mid-Atlantic coast, and in the west to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, they fly up to 3,000 miles. Returning to their breeding range, which is located north of a east-west line from mid-Missouri, northward to the northern border of Canada’s southern provinces, expanding as it goes westward to the Pacific coast, they are considered a to be a regular, migrant, and summer resident in Minnesota, occupying all of the state, where they arrive in mid-April and leave about mid-August.
The behavior of this bird is interesting. It does not fly at high altitudes. This accounts for a high mortality rate as they strike or are struck by objects. Interestingly, though, is the fact that even though they do not fly high above the ground, they have been observed in the western mountains above 12,500 feet above sea level.
Being semi-nocturnal, the sora tries to hide in the reeds during the day. It is most active during the evening hours. It is able to find support on the flimsiest of vegetation.
 Dr. Charles Townsend, back in 1929, wrote in his book, Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, “The vocabulary of this bird is so extensive that it would be impossible to include it all.” Vocal indeed, the sora rail has one of the most perplexing songs to identify.              The Sora Rail is called many names including: Carolina Rail, Common Rail, Rail-bird, Carolina Crake, Chicken-billed Rail, and others. This bird is legally hunted in Minnesota.