Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

King Rail (Rallus elegans)

Abundance: Rare; 5 records in 2 Regional counties, 1 in Kentucky and 1 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident formerly; no recent records; designated as an endangered breeding species by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); designated as in need of management by the Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage (2004); sight records.

Regional High Count: 3 (30 July 1952; Lake northeast of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee; Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1952).

Information on Records: 

1 June 1930 (nest—11 eggs) near Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky (Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1935a).

15 August 1932 (1—heard) marsh northeast of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (Henry M. Stevenson; Stevenson 1933).

26 May 1935 (2) marsh near Morrison, southwest of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier, H. O. Todd, John Calhoun; Ganier 1935b).

1 May 1939 (2 nests—one with 9 eggs and one with 7 eggs) marsh near Morrison, southwest of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (H. O. Todd; Todd 1944).

30 July 1952 (3) lake northeast of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1952).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Breeding: Confirmed (Historical).  Nest with 11 eggs noted by Albert F. Ganier 1 June 1930 in a marshy sinkhole near Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky (Ganier 1935a); also nest with 7 eggs and nest with 9 eggs found by Henry O. Todd 1 May 1939 in a marsh near Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee (Todd 1944).  No recent records and no other evidence of breeding.

Habitat: Marshes, sometimes fairly small ones (i. e., 1.5 hectares in the case of the marsh near Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee).

Remarks: 

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited