RIDGWAY’S RAILS CLIMBING SHRUBS AT HIGH TIDE

Abstract

 The Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail (Rallus obsoletus levipes) is considered endangered in the United States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is protected in Mexico under the Norma Ofiial Mexicana (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010) as “in danger of extinction” (“P,” DOF 2010, Ortiz-Pulido 2018). It is a cryptic species that inhabits coastal wetlands and lagoons from Santa Barbara, California, in the southwestern United States to Bahía de San Quintín in the northwest portion of the Baja California península, Mexico (Bent 1926, van Rossem 1929). This species is highly dependent for its survival on the halophytic vegetation cover provided by California cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) and pickleweed (Salicornia spp.) (Foin and Benchley-Jackson 1991). Here we describe an unreported, or at least uncommon, behavior for this species.