PROBABLE BREEDING POPULATION OF THE BLACK RAIL IN YUBA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Abstract

In central California, most California Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) are confined to the northern San Francisco Bay estuary, with small isolated populations along the outer coast in Tomales Bay, Bolinas Lagoon, Morro Bay, and Bodega Bay (Manolis 1978; Evens et al. 1991; J. Evens, pers. comm.). In the Central Valley, there is only one definite record north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta: a bird found dead at Gray Lodge Wildlife Management Area, Butte County, in March 1962 (Audubon Field Notes 23:516, 1969).