This is a Sora (Porzana carolina), a type of rail. Soras are somewhat secretive marsh birds, spending most of their time among wetland vegetation. You're more likely to hear one calling at night than to see one.
Here's a view showing the entire bird:
It's always a learning experience to see animals up close, so here are a few images.
Close-ups of the feathers, including the barred flanks (second photo below):
Short yellow bill:
Yellowish legs and long toes:
And one more of the feather details:
I don't know what happened, but perhaps the Sora was dispersing and dense fog overnight led to confusion, or to the Sora being in a place where you wouldn't normally expect it.
3 comments:
Thank you, Jackie. Some may not appreciate the close up beauty of a dead bird, but we can learn so much from their stilled life.
Beautiful, but sad...life in the wild.
Hello!
Yes, I agree with all sentiments here. Although they can be upsetting, sometimes I think of these moments as opportunities to expand even more our appreciation of wild neighbors. I've "known about" Soras for decades, but I've never seen the details of their feathers up close, and now my internal vision/understanding of "Sora" includes so much more. So I suppose this is me trying not to let the moment go to waste, and also hopefully improving my ability to speak and share information about Soras.
Jackie
Post a Comment