Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
Rallidae
Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinules; other rail species are extremely rare or endangered. Many are associated with wetland habitats, some being semi-aquatic like waterfowl (such as the coot), but many more are wading birds or shorebirds. The ideal rail habitats are marsh areas, including rice paddies, and flooded fields or open forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation for nesting. The rail family is found in every terrestrial habitat with the exception of dry desert, polar or freezing regions, and alpine areas (above the snow line). Members of Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous unique island species are known. The rails have suffered disproportionally from human changes to the environment, and an estimated several hundred species of island rails have become extinct because of this. Several island species of rails remain endangered, and conservation organisations and governments continue to work to prevent their extinction.
43 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 132 known species
Coots
genusFulica
Typical Moorhens
genusGallinula
Swamphens and Blue Gallinules
genusPorphyrio
Typical Rails
genusRallus
Bush-hens and Allies
genusAmaurornis
Spotted Crakes and allies
genusPorzana
Australo-Pacific Rails
genusGallirallus
Neotropical Wood-Rails
genusAramides
Zapornia Crakes
genusZapornia
Neotropical Marshland Rails
genusPardirallus
Nativehens
genusTribonyx
Crex
genusCrex
Porphyriops
genusPorphyriops
Laterallus Crakes
genusLaterallus
Lewin's Rail and Allies
genusLewinia
Poliolimnas
genusPoliolimnas
Red-legged Crakes and Allies
genusRallina
Gallicrex
genusGallicrex
Rufirallus Crakes
genusRufirallus
Mustelirallus Crakes
genusMustelirallus
Coturnicops Rails
genusCoturnicops
Crecopsis
genusCrecopsis
Paragallinula
genusParagallinula
Dryolimnas
genusDryolimnas
Amaurolimnas
genusAmaurolimnas
Rougetius
genusRougetius
Himantornis
genusHimantornis
Bare-faced Rails
genusGymnocrex
Anurolimnas
genusAnurolimnas
Aenigmatolimnas
genusAenigmatolimnas
Coots × Moorhens
genushybridFulica × Gallinula
Canirallus
genusCanirallus
Aramidopsis
genusAramidopsis
Megacrex
genusMegacrex
Diaphorapteryx
genusDiaphorapteryx
Aphanapteryx
genusAphanapteryx
Mundia
genusMundia
Erythromachus
genusErythromachus
Vitirallus
genusVitirallus
Aphanocrex
genusAphanocrex
Capellirallus
genusCapellirallus
Hovacrex
genusHovacrex
Cave Rails
genusNesotrochis
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Rallidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 154.