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Bird

Virginia Rail

Rallus limicola

A winter visitor to Florida, found in all 67 counties and 12 habitats.

Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
12

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest 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

Coastal dunes and beaches

White Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola
SummerWinterAtlantic 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.

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

On the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida"
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.

Freshwater marshes

The Great Florida Marsh
SummerWinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshMartin 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.

Pine savannas

Beautiful Savannah in the Pine Woods of Florida
SummerWinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet PrairieGeorge 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.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise"
SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreMartin Johnson Heade, Florida Sunrise: still water and a palm-fringed shore glowing at dawn. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, Florida Sunrise, c. 1890-1900)Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1890-1900. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

Florida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha
SummerWinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; South Florida Cypress DomeFlorida, 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.

SummerWinterCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic 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

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

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
Other habitats in its models (22)

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

In Florida 4

  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
Elsewhere in the South (3)
  • 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.
Northeast (3)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Midwest (1)
  • Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Winter, only within 250 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (11)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

  • Winter: does not nest here, in all 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 120

Plant genera in its diet records (11)
  • Lemna Leaves. 5 diet records. 5 native plants in Florida
  • Agropyron 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Florida
  • Carex 3 diet records. 77 native plants in Florida
  • Polygonum 3 diet records. 10 native plants in Florida
  • Scirpus 3 diet records. 4 native plants in Florida
  • Bidens Seeds. 2 diet records. 6 native plants in Florida
  • Bolboschoenus Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Florida
  • Chenopodium Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Florida
  • Leersia Seeds. 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Florida
  • Schoenoplectus Seeds. 2 diet records. 7 native plants in Florida
  • Setaria 1 diet record. 4 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.

Salt and brackish marshes

Birds 92

Plants 56

All of salt and brackish marshes in Florida

Swamps

Birds 93

Plants 353

All of swamps in Florida

Depression ponds and limesinks

Birds 67

Plants 124

All of depression ponds and limesinks in Florida

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources