Rail (bird)
| Rails Temporal range: Early Eocene–Recent |
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|---|---|
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| Dusky moorhen, Gallinula tenebrosa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: |
Rallidae Rafinesque, 1815 |
| Genera | |
|
Some 40 living, and see below. |
|
Some 40 living, and see below.
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. There are numerous island species. The most common rail habitats are marshland or dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation.
The rails are a fairly homogeneous family of small to medium-sized, ground-living birds. They vary in length from 12 cm to 63 cm and in weight from 20 g to 3000 g. Some species have long necks and in many cases are laterally compressed.
The bill is the most variable feature within the family. In some species it is longer than the head (like the clapper rail of the Americas), in others it may be short and wide (as in the coots), or massive (as in the purple gallinules). A few coots and gallinules have a frontal shield, which is a fleshy, rearward extension of the upper bill. The most complex frontal shield is found in the horned coot.
Rails exhibit very little sexual dimorphism in either plumage or size.
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Wikipedia