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Bird

Sora

Porzana carolina

A summer resident that nests in West Virginia. Found in all 55 counties, across 6 habitats.

Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
6

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
6
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 6

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

1 of 6

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

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerWinterSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

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

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

SummerWinterOnly within 250 m of water.Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Ruderal Upland - Old Field
Other habitats in its models (97)

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

Elsewhere in the South (30)
  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
  • 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 (7)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
  • Great Lakes Freshwater Estuary and Delta Summer.
  • Laurentian-Acadian Freshwater Marsh Summer.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
  • 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 (18)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall 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.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Winter.
  • 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 West Virginia

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 53 of 55 counties.
  • Summer: nests here, in 9 of 55 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 289

Plant genera in its diet records (23)
  • Persicaria Seeds. 12 diet records. 10 native plants in West Virginia
  • Schoenoplectus Seeds. 12 diet records. 6 native plants in West Virginia
  • Carex Seeds. 9 diet records. 161 native plants in West Virginia
  • Echinochloa Seeds. 8 diet records. 3 native plants in West Virginia
  • Polygonum Seeds. 7 diet records. 4 native plants in West Virginia
  • Setaria Seeds. 7 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Bolboschoenus Seeds. 5 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Lemna Leaves. 5 diet records. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Bidens Seeds. 4 diet records. 10 native plants in West Virginia
  • Digitaria Seeds. 4 diet records. 2 native plants in West Virginia
  • Eleocharis Seeds. 4 diet records. 15 native plants in West Virginia
  • Leersia Seeds. 4 diet records. 2 native plants in West Virginia
  • Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 11 native plants in West Virginia
  • Scirpus 3 diet records. 11 native plants in West Virginia
  • Zizania Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Cenchrus 2 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Cinna 2 diet records. 2 native plants in West Virginia
  • Cyperus 2 diet records. 16 native plants in West Virginia
  • Ludwigia Seeds. 2 diet records. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Oryza 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Paspalum 2 diet records. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Potamogeton Leaves. 2 diet records. 18 native plants in West Virginia
  • Urochloa 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in West 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.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Birds 112

Plants 12

All of disturbed and introduced wetlands in West Virginia

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 92

Plants 303

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in West Virginia

Freshwater marshes

Birds 31

Plants 166

All of freshwater marshes in West Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources