Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Yellow Rail (Coturnocops noveboracensis)

Abundance: Occasional; 1 record in each of 2 Tennessee counties, each record involving single birds (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the very small populations migrating through, and possibly wintering in, the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient during late fall (2 records); sight records.

Information on Records: 

8 December 1983 (1) Lovelady, Pickett County, Tennessee (Robbie C. Hassler, J. David Hassler; Hassler 1984; Stedman 1984b).

2 November 1997 (1) Warren County, Tennessee (Carolyn H. Bullock, Virginia B. Reynolds, Susan N. McWhirter, Martha G. Waldron; Fekel 1998a).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: The Yellow Rail in Pickett County, Tennessee, was observed from a distance as close as 3 m while it pecked at gravel on the side of a paved secondary road adjacent to a shallow grassy ditch near a creek crossing (Hassler 1984). The Yellow Rail in Warren County, Tennessee, was flushed from a grassy marsh (Fekel 1998a), classic habitat for Yellow Rails.

Remarks: Late fall would appear to be the best time to seek this reticent species.  The Pickett County, Tennessee, sighting represented the latest "fall" sighting—and the only winter record—in the state at the time (Robinson 1990).

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