BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
AREMOTE CONTROL RAIL
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
Imagine you are overlooking one of Nantucket's salt marshes just after dark. The fireflies are dancing. You can smell the rich, musty salt marsh odor in the air. Try not to imagine the sound of a mosquito hovering near your ear. Suddenly all the fireflies snuff their lights. Total darkness prevails. Then just as suddenly they are illuminated! Could it be that a Clapper Rail is active?

Clapper Rail

Okay, the jokes are free here. You might just as well grit your teeth and chuckle. And there is such a beast as a Clapper Rail. Supposedly its call reminds one of clapping hands but I never pick that up when I hear it. Peterson describes it as a 'kek-kek-kek-kek.' The Latin name also provides a clue to the call, Rallus longirostris, where 'rallus' refers to a scraping sound and is also the basis for the common name, 'rail.'

Nantucket is right at the northern edge of this bird's range. As a matter of fact, when Griscom and Folger published "The Birds of Nantucket" in 1948, the bird was unknown here. Now it is rare year-round and even nests occasionally. Is this another example of global warming or just more vigilant observing?

The hunters call these birds 'salt-water marsh hens' and your first thought when seeing one is that the body is hen-sized and shaped. But then you realize there are also long legs and a long bill and this would be a peculiar chicken indeed.

Clapper Rails are the salt marsh version of another closely related species, the King Rail. I truly hope the birding mavens never 'lump' them into a single species since I worked long and hard to add King Rail to my birding life list down in Georgia and would hate to lose it. Clappers are found in salt marshes on all the coasts of our country. With all that habitat you would think they must be very common and at one time they were.

Unfortunately, the tales of their abundance also yield a clue to their decline. In 1840 John James Audubon wrote of collecting 72 dozen eggs in a single day and also noted that in the 'Jerseys' it wasn't unusual to bring back 100 dozen. They were also hunted to the extreme. Remember that tides are one of the major features of a salt marsh. During periods of extreme high tides there are very few spots that are still above water. Poling along in flat-bottomed boats the hunters would drive Clapper Rails from tiny island to tiny island, killing hundreds as they went. Even Audubon, a shooter himself, was appalled at this slaughter, particularly as he points out they were not very tasty.

Now, 160 years later, it seems the sport goes on. A promotion for Chincoteague hunting begins, "Rail hunting is a great way to start off your waterfowl season." But the salt marsh habitat is disappearing everywhere. Continuous pressure from developers to build homes so we can all have our ocean views has caused them to be filled in or otherwise scoured from the landscape. Now developers can even work a trade with zoning officials where they create a 'marsh' elsewhere to make up for what they've destroyed. How foolish can we be?

Clappers are true salt marsh creatures. Their entire life cycle is literally woven into the marsh. They build their elaborate nests of marsh grass, just a few inches above high water level. Green canopies of grass often arch over the nests with a series of runway tunnels leading in and out. It's not uncommon for there to be 12 eggs in the nest and they take about two weeks to hatch. Almost immediately the chicks are mobile, both running and swimming.

Clapper Rail diet is also based on where they live, mainly small crabs, snails, fish, insects, and plants. They provide a key balancing part of the salt marsh environment.

The only Clapper Rail in the Edith Andrews Bird Collection at the Maria Mitchell Association goes back to February, 1957, when Charlie Sayle Jr. and Carl Sjolund found one dead in the salt marsh near Old Spouter Pottery. I guess fewer of today's teenagers are prowling the marshes.

The best time to catch one of these sneaky marsh denizens in the open is at dawn or dusk. If the tide is right, there are muddy banks along our tidal cricks and you will see them trying to catch a snack. With luck you'll see their striped rear ends and even hear their scratchy calls, assuming you can hear them

over the hum of the mosquitoes. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. The Maria Mitchell Association sponsors bird walks on Tuesday and Thursday morning starting at 6:30 a.m., 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, from the corner of Vestal and Milk Streets. There is a fee. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.