King Rail
King Rail has fallen sharply: down 71% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the King Rail
The King Rail (Rallus elegans) is a North American member of the Rails, Gallinules & Coots (Rallidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the wetland birds.
- Size
- 6–19 in long (15–48 cm) — a marsh-dwelling waterbird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Marshes, ponds, lakeshores and other freshwater wetlands.
- Diet
- Aquatic invertebrates, small fish, frogs and plant matter.
- Range
- Recorded on 109 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 19 states, most concentrated in the Gulf Coastal Prairie.
- Family
- Rallidae · Wetland birds
Notable King Rail Trends
No notable trend signals for King Rail. See the full index history below.
King Rail Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, King Rail is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 0.00 (95% range 0.00–0.02). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±73.6%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
| 2026 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
| 2027 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
| 2028 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
| 2029 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
Where the King Rail Is Detected
BBS routes recording King Rail, sized by most recent count.
King Rail Population Trend by State
| Alabama | insufficient data | n/a | 7 |
| Arkansas | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| Connecticut | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Delaware | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Florida | -90% | 1968 | 26 |
| Georgia | -89% | 1970 | 11 |
| Kansas | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Louisiana | -63% | 1970 | 18 |
| Maryland | +85% | 1975 | 5 |
| Minnesota | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Mississippi | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| New Jersey | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| North Carolina | -56% | 1996 | 5 |
| Oklahoma | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| South Carolina | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Texas | -70% | 1969 | 14 |
| Virginia | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| West Virginia | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Wisconsin | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
King Rail Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -65% | 1970 | 27 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +117% | 1974 | 9 |
| Peninsular Florida | -91% | 1968 | 24 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | -60% | 1969 | 28 |
King Rail Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 71% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.