Ridgway's rail
Rallus obsoletus Ridgway, 1874
The ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 342 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the ridgway's rail
- Weight
- 342 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the ridgway's rail live?
Not recorded
What is the ridgway's rail?
Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) is a species of bird found principally along the Pacific coast of North America from the San Francisco Bay Area to southern Baja California, as well as in some regions of the Gulf of California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a large cinnamon-brown rail that lives in brackish tidal marshes and rarely flies. Its name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway.
This species is closely related to the clapper rail, and until recently was considered a subspecies. It has a long, downward curving bill and is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and conspicuous whitish rump patch. It is most active nocturnally and crepuscularly.
From the Wikipedia article “Ridgway's rail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ridgway%27s_rail&oldid=1371059679), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the ridgway's rail endangered?
The ridgway's rail is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the ridgway's rail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusRallus
- SpeciesRallus obsoletus Ridgway, 1874
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- California clapper railEnglish
- Western clapper railEnglish
- Western railEnglish
- Western railEnglish
- تفلق ريدجوايArabic
- rascló de RidgwayCatalan
- chřástal kalifornskýCzech
- San Francisco-klapperrikseDanish
- RidgwayralleGerman
- KalifornienralleGerman
- KalifornierrralleGerman
- kalifornia raloEsperanto
- Rascón de RidgwaySpanish
- Rascón Costero del PacíficoSpanish
- Râle de CalifornieFrench
- pacifička kokošicaCroatian
- rallo di RidgwayItalian
- ニシオニクイナJapanese
- Kaliforninė vištelėLithuanian
- Californische RalDutch
- spartinarikseNorwegian
- wodnik kalifornijskiPolish
- saracura-da-califórniaPortuguese
- frango-d'água-da-califórniaPortuguese
- Frango-d'água-de-RidgwayPortuguese
- Пастушок РиджуэйяRussian
- Калифорнийский пастушокRussian
- chriašteľ kalifornskýSlovak
- Ridžvejev petlovanSerbian
- ridgwayrallSwedish
- californiarallSwedish
- Ridgway SukılavuzuTurkish
- пастушок каліфорнійськийUkrainian
- 里氏秧雞Chinese
- 李積維秧雞Chinese
- 里氏秧鸡Chinese
Relatives of the ridgway's rail
Other species in the same genus Rallus.
Water rail
Rallus aquaticus
African rail
Rallus caerulescens
Bogotá rail
Rallus semiplumbeus
Virginia rail
Rallus limicola
Mangrove rail
Rallus longirostris
Madagascar rail
Rallus madagascariensis
CompareRidgway's rail vs Water railRidgway's rail vs African railRidgway's rail vs Bogotá railRidgway's rail vs Virginia rail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the ridgway's rail?
An adult ridgway's rail weighs 342 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the ridgway's rail endangered?
The ridgway's rail is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
What kind of animal is the ridgway's rail?
The ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ridgways-rail
“Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ridgways-rail.
@misc{ridgways_rail_2026,
title = {Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ridgways-rail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}