The clapper rail is a medium-sized marsh bird found in coastal salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America. With its distinctive reddish feathers and loud, clattering call, the clapper rail is a famous inhabitant of saltwater marshes. But how did this secretive bird get its onomatopoeic common name? The story behind the naming of the clapper rail reveals a history of early naturalists encountering and describing new species in the New World.
What is a clapper rail?
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) is a wetland bird that belongs to the rail family, Rallidae. It lives in coastal salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America. About the size of a small chicken, the clapper rail reaches 12-16 inches (30-40 cm) in length and weighs 8-16 oz (225-457 g).
The clapper rail is ground-dwelling and very shy. It prefers to walk or run through marsh vegetation rather than fly. Its legs are long and its toes are unwebbed, adapted for grasping marsh plants. The clapper rail’s laterally compressed body allows it to easily slip between reeds and grasses. Its feathers are generally reddish-brown above and pale gray below. The clapper rail’s bill is long, thick, and slightly decurved.
Habitat
Clapper rails inhabit brackish and saltwater marshes. They are found in wetlands ranging from Maryland to Texas along the Atlantic Coast and from California to Mexico along the Pacific Coast. On the Gulf Coast, clapper rails live in salt marshes from Florida to Texas.
Within coastal marshes, clapper rails seek out dense stands of cordgrass (Spartina spp.), marsh elder (Iva spp.), and glasswort (Salicornia spp.). They avoid areas that are frequently flooded by tides. Nests are built low to the ground within areas of dense vegetation that conceal the birds from predators.
Diet
Clapper rails forage for food while walking or swimming through shallow water. They eat a variety of invertebrates such as fiddler crabs, snails, shrimp, marine worms, insects, and small fish. Plants make up a small portion of their diet as well. Clapper rails use their long bills to probe into mud or flip over debris to uncover hidden food items.
Conservation status
Clapper rail populations declined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to overhunting and habitat loss. Following protective legislation in the 1900s and management efforts to preserve coastal wetlands, clapper rail numbers rebounded. They remain common today throughout most of their range and are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. However, local populations in some areas, such as California, are endangered or threatened due to ongoing marsh degradation. Maintaining coastal wetland habitat is crucial for the continued success of the clapper rail.
Origin of the “Clapper” Name
The characteristic vocalizations of the clapper rail give this species its common name. When alarmed, clapper rails produce a loud, repetitive clattering sound by opening and closing their bills. This distinctive rattling or “clapping” noise earned the bird its vernacular moniker.
But who first described the species’ clamorous calls and bestowed the name “clapper rail”? To find out, we must look back to the early days of New World ornithology and the pioneering naturalists who first encountered unfamiliar American birds.
Early Descriptions by European Explorers
As European explorers, naturalists, and colonists began describing North America’s plants and animals in the 16th-18th centuries, they came across birds that were unknown to science. The clapper rail was among the many new avian species that required documentation and naming.
Some of the earliest accounts of the noisy rail come from captivity. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, European collectors occasionally obtained live North American rails to add to their private menageries. The birds’ loud calls were noted by those who kept them in captivity.
For example, in 1605 the British Admiral George Waymouth explored the coast of what is now Maine. He captured several live “sea-railes” and brought them back across the Atlantic, remarking on their incessant noise.
Early reports such as these indicate European colonists were already linking the characteristic vocalizations with the identity of the marsh rails they encountered in North America. But these brief captive accounts did not yet pin down the species with a formal Latin name. Establishing a scientifically recognized name and description would fall to 18th century naturalists.
Formal Descriptions and Naming
In 1758, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus published the 10th edition of his authoritative Systema Naturae which introduced the formal system of binomial nomenclature still used today. Linnaeus coined the scientific name Rallus crepitans to formally describe the clapper rail and distinguish it as a recognized species.
The genus name Rallus refers to the rail family more broadly, while crepitans is Latin for “rattling” or “clattering,” directly referencing the distinct vocalizations of the birds. By officially assigning this descriptive scientific name, Linnaeus established the noisy nature of the birds as a key identifier.
Soon after, additional ornithologists provided more detailed descriptions affirming the rattling cries as the source of the bird’s common name. In 1766, English naturalist George Edwards described the rail species as follows:
“This inhabits the Salt Marshes: makes a Clattering with its Bill when disturbed: is called by the People Clapping Rail.”
Edwards’ account confirms that Anglo colonists were already calling the birds “clapping rails” or “clappers” based on the banging sounds of their bills. Other naturalists like Mark Catesby and John James Audubon also noted the species’ noisy habits in their seminal 18th and 19th century works documenting North American birds.
By repeatedly emphasizing the rattling vocalization, these early accounts cemented the onomatopoeic “clapper” name in popular usage. The rails’ distinctive calls became enshrined as a key part of their identity.
Description of the Clapper Rail’s Call
What exactly does the clapper rail’s namesake sound like? Here is how naturalists describe the rattling, clattering vocalizations:
Loud, repetitive clattering
The most frequently described aspect is the repetitive, clattering nature of the call. Observers report a loud, hammering sound consisting of multiple clicks or claps in rapid succession.
Catesby in 1731 described the clapper’s cry as “a short clattering only, not so loud as a Hen Turkey.” Audubon referred to the “noise produced by clapping the sides of two large iron castanets” to capture the rapid clacking quality.
Bill-rattling mechanism
The clattering arises from a specialized technique. The rails rapidly open and close their bills to produce the sounds.
Mark Catesby noted in the 1700s that the odd call “is made by the motion of their Bills.” John James Audubon’s observation of captive rails revealed the secret:
“The sound is produced by the bird striking the lower mandible upon the upper, with great rapidity. The loudness of the notes depends on the force with which this is done.”
By focusing their descriptions on the unique bill-rattling action, early ornithologists recognized the key mechanism behind the species’ namesake vocalization.
Harsh, grating quality
The clattering call has an abrasive, grinding quality to human ears.
Naturalist Thomas Nuttall wrote in 1832 that the cry “is harsh and grating.” Audubon similarly described the “grating noise” as resembling “the sound produced by shaking pebbles in a box.” These characterizations capture the irritating, gravelly nature of the rattling sound.
Used in aggression and alarm
Clapper rails call most frequently when alarmed or displaying aggression. The rattling serves to communicate alarm at intruders or possibly to defend territory.
Upon shooting a rail, Audubon remarked that “had I not killed it at once, I know not where [its cries] would have ended.” This indicates how prolonged and insistent the birds’ clattering can be when alarmed or threatened. Nuttall also noted that the birds cry loudly “when wounded or alarmed.”
By repeatedly emphasizing these jarring, loud, repetitive vocalizations, early naturalists left little doubt over why “clapper” became the birds’ defining namesake. The rail’s distinctive rattling perfectly encapsulates its common name.
The Use of “Clapper” Over Time
Since being established in the 1700s, usage of “clapper rail” has persisted and expanded over time. Let’s look at some key examples:
John James Audubon, 1830s
In his famous Birds of America, Audubon refers to the species as the “Clapper Rail” within his account. This demonstrates how the name was firmly ensconced by Audubon’s time.
Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1858
Ornithologist Baird uses “Clapper Rail” as the official vernacular name in his authoritative 1858 book Birds of North America.
American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910
In the early 20th century, the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) began standardizing English bird names. In its 1910 Check-List, the AOU adopted “Clapper Rail” as the accepted name for Rallus crepitans.
Scientific literature, field guides, and databases
Modern scientific papers, field guides, and databases overwhelmingly use “clapper rail” as the standard name for the species. It is found in the IUCN Red List, Handbook of Birds of the World, and Birds of North America Online.
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Official USFWS documents use “clapper rail” when referring to the species. Several subspecies are federally listed for protection, including the California Clapper Rail and the Light-footed Clapper Rail.
Birdwatching
Among birders and nature enthusiasts, “clapper rail” remains the universally recognized common name used in trip reports, blogs, and photography captions.
The fact that “clapper rail” has been continuously used from the early 1800s up to the present day demonstrates the stability and dominance of the descriptive name coined by early naturalists. The species’ rattling vocalizations left a lasting impact in its common name.
Origin of Other Clapper Rail Names
Beyond “clapper rail,” some other local names have arisen for the species over time. These regional monikers sometimes also reference the birds’ noisy calls:
Virginia rail
An early alternate name used in portions of the Southeast. Catesby used “Virginia Rail” in his Natural History of Carolina, likely because some of the specimens he described were from Virginia.
Marsh hen
Sometimes used in the mid-Atlantic region. Refers to the rail’s chicken-like size and its marsh habitat.
Mud hen
Used in the Southeast and Gulf Coast. Also compares the brownish rail to a chicken while referencing its muddy wetland habitat.
Crakale or crackling
Dialect names recorded in Georgia and Florida. Mimic the cracking, rattling cries.
Southern clapper rail
A subspecies (R. c. waynei) found along the Gulf Coast. Reflects its geographic range and the typical clapper vocalizations.
While not as widespread as “clapper rail,” these regional names also demonstrate how the species’ sounds shaped certain vernacular naming conventions. The rail’s crackling, clattering call left an obvious impression on those encountering it across different parts of its range.
Conclusion
In summary, the story of how the clapper rail got its name provides insight into the history of European naturalists in the New World discovering and documenting North America’s native wildlife. Upon hearing the noisy, rattling cries coming from secretive marsh birds, early ornithologists were struck by the characteristic vocalizations. Their onomatopoeic names like “clapper” and “crackling” rail reflected these sounds.
The prominence of the bird’s rattling bill mechanism in both the scientific name Rallus crepitans and in early descriptions cemented “clapper” as the standard vernacular name. Audubon, Baird, the AOU, and modern authorities all adopted “clapper rail,” proving the enduring legacy of the descriptive name bestowed by pioneering naturalists of the 1700s and 1800s. When we see the term “clapper rail” used hundreds of years later, it reflects the impact left by those early encounters with a noisy New World marsh bird.