Research Spotlight: California Black Rail

Jul 28, 2014

Initiated by Jerry Tecklin and Dr. Steve Beissinger in 2002, the Black Rail Project monitors the population dynamics and movements of two very secretive wetland birds, the Black Rail and the Virginia Rail. Over the past decade, researchers have examined a wide range of questions regarding these difficult-to-study birds including genetics, dispersal of young, West Nile Virus, territoriality, wetland type and vegetation preferences, and diet. Now in its thirteenth year, Nathan Van Schmidt is researching how the rails cope with drought, seasonal hydrology regimes, and the "rescue effect."

Check out the video for details!

Related Links:

California black rails depend on irrigation-fed wetlands in the Sierra Nevada foothills (California Agriculture, 2010)

Black Rail Metapopulation Dynamics