Summary
- Natural history: The Sora is North America’s most widespread rail, best known for a distinctive whinnying call that slides down the musical scale, yet in Vermont it stays tucked into the state’s largest cattail marshes rather than spreading into smaller wetlands the way its relative the Virginia Rail does. It is legal game in thirty-one states and two Canadian provinces, though hunting pressure is light even on its wintering grounds, and hunting has never been allowed in Vermont. Soras also build extra, unused ‘dummy’ nests alongside the real one, and by late summer the birds grow so quiet and secretive that they are seldom reported after mid-September.
- Status in VT: Increased by 50% (10 to 15 blocks). Greatest increase in Southern Green Mountains.
- Data from other research: No additional data for VT.
- Conservation status: State rank S3B; SSC; SGCN-M
- Other atlases: NY: 15%; PA: 16%; ON: 33% (south); 100% (north)
- VT’s role in North American range: VT is within the core of the range.
- Causes of change since first Atlas: Use of recordings during second Atlas (?)
- Management/Monitoring recommendations:Standardized surveys.
First Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas (1976-1981)
Second Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas (2003 – 2007)
Change in Distribution
