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Bird

Sora

Porzana carolina

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 15 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 133 counties and cities
Habitats
15

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 133 counties and cities
Habitats
15
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 15

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

1 of 15

Streams, rivers and their banks

Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70
SummerWinterSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt), a neighboring state.Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

The Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405
SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood ForestWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

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

WinterAtlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

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

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.

WinterAtlantic 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

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

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

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Freshwater tidal marshes

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

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and 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 Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Wet meadows

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

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"
SummerWinterOnly within 250 m of water.Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Ruderal Upland - Old FieldLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.
Other habitats in its models (84)

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

Elsewhere in the South (23)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
  • South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
  • Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Winter.
  • Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, beside its main habitat.
Northeast (4)
  • Great Lakes Freshwater Estuary and Delta Summer.
  • Laurentian-Acadian Freshwater Marsh Summer.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathland and Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
Midwest (11)
  • Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Eastern Great Plains Tallgrass Aspen Parkland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Great Lakes Wet-Mesic Lakeplain Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Great Plains Prairie Pothole Summer and winter.
  • Northern Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Summer.
  • Northern Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
West (31)
  • California Central Valley and Southern Coastal Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • California Central Valley Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • California Mesic Serpentine Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • California Northern Coastal Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Columbia Basin Palouse Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Inter-Mountain Basins Alkaline Closed Depression Summer and winter.
  • Inter-Mountain Basins Interdunal Swale Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Summer and winter.
  • Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter.
  • North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
  • North American Warm Desert Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North Pacific Bog and Fen Summer.
  • North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Summer.
  • Northern California Claypan Vernal Pool Summer and winter.
  • Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane, Foothill and Valley Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northern Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Upper Montane Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Rocky Mountain Alpine-Montane Wet Meadow Summer.
  • Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer.
  • Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Rocky Mountain Montane-Subalpine Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Temperate Pacific Freshwater Mudflat Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Temperate Pacific Intertidal Mudflat Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Temperate Pacific Montane Wet Meadow Summer and winter.
  • Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
  • Western Great Plains Closed Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Foothill and Piedmont Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Western Great Plains Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Willamette Valley Upland Prairie and Savanna Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Willamette Valley Wet Prairie Summer.
Land cover and other classes (15)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Systems Summer.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
  • Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Virginia

  • Year-round: nests here, in 53 of 133 counties and cities.
  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 87 of 133 counties and cities.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 17 of 133 counties and cities.
  • Summer: nests here, in 3 of 133 counties and cities.

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 350

Plant genera in its diet records (23)
  • Persicaria Seeds. 12 diet records. 11 native plants in Virginia
  • Schoenoplectus Seeds. 12 diet records. 6 native plants in Virginia
  • Carex Seeds. 9 diet records. 170 native plants in Virginia
  • Echinochloa Seeds. 8 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Polygonum Seeds. 7 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Setaria Seeds. 7 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
  • Bolboschoenus Seeds. 5 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Lemna Leaves. 5 diet records. 7 native plants in Virginia
  • Bidens Seeds. 4 diet records. 12 native plants in Virginia
  • Digitaria Seeds. 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Eleocharis Seeds. 4 diet records. 30 native plants in Virginia
  • Leersia Seeds. 4 diet records. 4 native plants in Virginia
  • Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 7 native plants in Virginia
  • Scirpus 3 diet records. 11 native plants in Virginia
  • Zizania Seeds. 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Virginia
  • Cenchrus 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Cinna 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
  • Cyperus 2 diet records. 30 native plants in Virginia
  • Ludwigia Seeds. 2 diet records. 14 native plants in Virginia
  • Oryza 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Paspalum 2 diet records. 11 native plants in Virginia
  • Potamogeton Leaves. 2 diet records. 17 native plants in Virginia
  • Urochloa 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.

Swamps

Birds 72

Plants 318

All of swamps in Virginia

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Birds 119

Plants 24

All of disturbed and introduced wetlands in Virginia

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 74

Plants 381

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources