Bird

King Rail

Rallus elegans

Lives in Florida all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 12 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12

Adult King Rail, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Wendy McCrady, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 122411751. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Florida 12

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 12

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandGeorge Catlin, White Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola (1834-35): high white dunes with scattered clumps of dune plants above the Gulf. Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FloridaWhite Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola, George Catlin (1796-1872), 1834-1835. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterMartin Johnson Heade, On the San Sebastian River (c. 1883-90): a tidal river winding through flat marsh under storm clouds at sunset. San Sebastian River, St. Augustine, FloridaOn the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1883-1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh; South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator HoleMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art)*The Great Florida Marsh*, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouth Florida Pine Flatwoods; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Catlin, Beautiful Savannah in the Pine Woods of Florida (1834-35): an open grassy savanna with a shallow pond, ringed by tall pines, with palmettos and red wildflowers. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Pine woods of Florida (George Catlin, 1834-35; Smithsonian American Art Museum)*Beautiful Savannah in the Pine Woods of Florida*, George Catlin, 1834-1835. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded SwampFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha (1899): a dark swamp-lined river at sunset, with cypress and hardwoods crowding both banks. Ocklawaha River, FloridaFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha, Detroit Photographic Co. (chromolithograph), 1899. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

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

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

SummerWinter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerWinterSouth Florida Wet Marl Prairie

Other habitats in its models (18)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida. Those recorded in Florida first, the rest by region.

In Florida 1

South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.

Elsewhere in the South (4)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.

Northeast (3)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.

Land cover and other classes (10)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

Year-round: nests here, in all 67 counties.
Summer: nests here, in 9 of 67 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 93

Florida Cockspur
Echinochloa paludigena
Native
American Barnyard-grass
Echinochloa muricata
Grass or sedge. Native
Coast Cockspur-grass
Echinochloa walteri
Grass or sedge. Native
Catchfly Cutgrass
Leersia lenticularis
Grass or sedge. Native
Rice Cutgrass
Leersia oryzoides
Grass or sedge. Native
Southern Cutgrass
Leersia hexandra
Grass or sedge. Native
White Cutgrass
Leersia virginica
Grass or sedge. Native
Bunch Cutgrass
Leersia monandra
Native
Blue Crowngrass
Paspalum caespitosum
Native
Coconut Paspalum
Paspalum laxum
Native
Coral Paspalum
Paspalum blodgettii
Native
Gulfdune Paspalum
Paspalum monostachyum
Native
Paspalum plicatulum
Paspalum plicatulum
Native
Paspalum repens
Paspalum repens
Native
Reimar Grass
Paspalum eglume
Native
Rustyseed Paspalum
Paspalum botterii
Native
Sour Crowngrass
Paspalum conjugatum
Native
Thin Crowngrass
Paspalum setaceum
Grass or sedge. Native
Bull Crowngrass
Paspalum boscianum
Grass or sedge. Native
Early Crowngrass
Paspalum praecox
Grass or sedge. Native
Field Paspalum
Paspalum laeve
Grass or sedge. Native
Florida Paspalum
Paspalum floridanum
Grass or sedge. Native
Hairyseed Crowngrass
Paspalum pubiflorum
Grass or sedge. Native
Knotgrass
Paspalum distichum
Grass or sedge. Native

Plant genera in its diet records (6)

Oryza Seeds. 8 diet records. 0 native plants in Florida
Echinochloa Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Florida
Leersia Seeds. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in Florida
Paspalum Seeds. 1 diet record. 19 native plants in Florida
Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 10 native plants in Florida
Rhynchospora Seeds. 1 diet record. 56 native plants in Florida

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Florida, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.