What Do Rails Eat? A Detailed Explanation of the Feeding Habits of Rails

Rails are thin, small marsh birds that inhabit reed beds, shrubby grass, or rice paddies near water. So, what do rails eat?

1. What do rails eat?

Rails mainly eat foods such as japonica rice, adzuki beans, wheat, corn, yellow millet, earthworms, loaches, superworms, and tender plant shoots.

2. The living habits of rails

1. They inhabit reed beds, shrubby grass, or rice paddies near water, foraging for plant seeds and grains, and also eating insects. The breeding season is from May to July, and they build their nests in grass on the ground near water. Each clutch contains 5-7 eggs. In China they are distributed in the northwest, north China, Sichuan, northeast China, Fujian, and Taiwan, China.

2. A genus in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. In birds of this genus, the culmen is equal in length to the tarsus, or longer. There are 18 species in total, distributed almost worldwide. China has 2 species, the Water Rail and the Slaty-breasted Rail.

3. The Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus), also called the purple-faced rail, is the only representative of this genus whose range reaches the Palaearctic realm. Body length is about 23 cm; body weight is 90-95 g. Its body shape somewhat resembles a chick, but its bill, legs, and toes are all very slender and long, suitable for wading; the body plumage is soft, and the upperparts are roughly olive-brown covered with brownish-black longitudinal streaks; the head, neck, and forebreast are grayish, and the sides of the face have a chestnut eye-stripe; the underparts are dark brown, mixed with white transverse bars; the bill is dark brown with an orange-red base, and the bill length equals the leg length or is even longer; the legs and feet are brown, with no webbing between the toes; the wings and tail are both short. Males and females have similar plumage. In flight the head and neck are stretched forward and the legs hang down. It mainly feeds on tender plant shoots and seeds, and also eats insects and small aquatic animals. It builds its nest among dense grass not far above the water surface, using cattail and reed leaves. The nest is roughly dish-shaped. Each clutch contains 6-7 eggs. The eggs are pinkish-brown with sparse fine dark brown speckles. Both sexes incubate the eggs together. After hatching, the chicks are fully covered in dark brown down and are precocial. Most rails are nocturnal and secretive in their habits. The Water Rail breeds in northeastern China and across vast areas of the west.

2. Protection level of rails

Rallidae: the Water Rail, Slaty-breasted Rail, Red-legged Crake, White-throated Crake, Baillon's Crake, Band-bellied Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Platen's Rail, Ruddy-breasted Crake, White-breasted Waterhen, Watercock, Common Moorhen, and Purple Swamphen are included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals Protected by the State or of Important Economic and Scientific Research Value," issued by China's State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000.