Hi -
Rails migrate at night but fly lower than most nocturnal migrants. As a
result they are very common victims at TV towers and other obstructions,
and tend to get stuck in built environments, particularly in rainy weather.
In 1985 and 1986 I assisted with gathering tower mortality at a 1200' tower
outside Topeka KS. The tower had a series of guywires, and rails tended to
be found under the wires, farther from the tower. The highest-flying
migrants would be clustered closer around the tower. After a rainy night in
Sept. 1986, two of us collected about 1100 birds, including over close to
200 rails. The majority were Virginia, but there were also a lot of Soras,
and incredibly, 32 Yellow Rails, including one that was still alive.
Wayne
-----Original Message-----
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of John Thomas
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 10:50 AM
To: redpeelingbark@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: Downtown pdx virginia rail
Another lost rail in migration? They do seem to get themselves into prickly
situations. My wife, working at a local elementary school at the time, was
known to like birds so somebody brought her a "strange bird in a bucket".
This was quite a few years ago. At the time we didn't know a rail from a
cuckoo and e-mailed photos to several Oregon big-time birders who ID'd the
"bird in a bucket" for us. Lifer !!!
The bird landed on East Hill in Silverton either on or near Hwy 214-again
in the spring- and was totally lost. We put it in a small cage (inside and
safe), fed it mealworms and it recovered overnight without having to track
down a rehab place. We released it into a local Silverton area wetland.
When students in Salem brought me a bird in trouble, it was a Starling!
Just my luck... There was a rehab lady in Salem who actually took it in at
the time.
John Thomas
NE of Silverton
PS On local bird note, we saw our first Band-tailed Pigeon for 2016 this
morning.
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