Bird

Sora

Porzana carolina

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Migratory and winter in Alabama, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 11 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Migratory and winter
Breeding: Nonbreeding
Range: 66 of 67 counties
Habitats: 11

Adult Sora, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) John Rosford, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 346197100. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Alabama: Migratory and winter
Breeding: Nonbreeding
Counties in known range: 66 of 67
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Alabama 11

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 11

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded SwampRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

WinterSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Winter

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Summer and winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Summer and winterSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Summer and winterSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Winter. Only within 250 m of waterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous ModifierLimestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Summer and winter. Only within 250 m of waterCultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Other habitats in its models (90)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.

Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Temperate Pacific Intertidal Mudflat Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Temperate Pacific Freshwater Mudflat Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Eastern Great Plains Tallgrass Aspen Parkland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Willamette Valley Upland Prairie and Savanna Summer. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathland and Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane, Foothill and Valley Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northern Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Upper Montane Grassland Summer. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow Summer. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Southern Rocky Mountain Montane-Subalpine Grassland Summer. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Columbia Basin Palouse Prairie Summer. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Western Great Plains Foothill and Piedmont Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Western Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northern Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
California Mesic Serpentine Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Great Lakes Wet-Mesic Lakeplain Prairie Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
California Central Valley and Southern Coastal Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
California Northern Coastal Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 250 m of water
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter
Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter
Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Systems Summer
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter
Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer
North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Summer
North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Summer and winter
Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Summer and winter
Great Lakes Freshwater Estuary and Delta Summer
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
Northern Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Summer
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter
Laurentian-Acadian Freshwater Marsh Summer
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
Inter-Mountain Basins Interdunal Swale Wetland Summer and winter
North Pacific Bog and Fen Summer
Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer
Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter
Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Summer and winter
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter
Rocky Mountain Alpine-Montane Wet Meadow Summer
Willamette Valley Wet Prairie Summer
Temperate Pacific Montane Wet Meadow Summer and winter
Great Plains Prairie Pothole Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Summer and winter
Northern California Claypan Vernal Pool Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Closed Depression Wetland Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland Summer and winter
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter
Inter-Mountain Basins Alkaline Closed Depression Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter
California Central Valley Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
North American Warm Desert Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Western Great Plains Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter