Sora
Porzana carolina · Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
Banding codeSORA
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 8.5 in long.
2Color pattern
- Chicken-like rail with a short yellow bill
- Black face and throat
- Gray breast and barred flanks
3Habitat & season
Marshes with cattails and sedges
In northern Utah: summer.
Seen most often in August.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
A descending whinny and a rising 'ker-wee'.
“a descending whinny”
iNat 63378160 by Jose Luis Sandoval · Arcata, CA, USA · CC0
Know it
- Its call is a descending, horse-like whinny.
- Despite weak-looking flight, it migrates hundreds of miles.
- Heard far more often than seen.
- The most common rail in North America.
Often confused with
House Sparrow
Spotted SandpiperFrom iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The sora, sora rail or Carolina crake is a small waterbird of the rail family Rallidae, sometimes also referred to as the sora rail or sora crake, that occurs throughout much of North America. The genus name Porzana is derived from Venetian terms for small rails, and the specific carolina refers to the Carolina Colony. The common name "Sora" is probably derived from a Native American language.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0