Sora

Porzana carolina

Status: Least concern, numbers increasing.

Size: Between 8-9 inches in length.

Habitat: Wetlands

At the Zoo: Americas Aviary

Soras are a small rail species and are very beautiful birds when compared to others of their family. They have blue-grey feathers on their chest with brown feathers lined with blue-grey on the edges. Look for the yellow beak and a black “mask” across the eyes. The rest of the body has grey and brown with a black mottling on their back. Soras are found in wetlands, swamps, marshes and other semi-aquatic habitats with lots of vegetation. They like environments with plenty of reeds, rushes, tall grasses and cattails plus farms and pastures, especially those with flooded fields or meadows. They eat seeds from wetland plants and aquatic invertebrates including snails, dragonflies, flies, and beetles

Soras are migratory birds and can be found in different regions depending on the time of year. During the breeding season in summer birds are either in Canada or the northern United States. In winter they migrate south in United States and Mexico, but have been observed going as far as Central and South America.

Photos:
Cover: Phoca2004, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Top: Michael Yanke, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Bottom: Doug Greenberg, Wikimedia Creative Commons