

CREDIT: SANFORD WILBUR 



LIGHT-FOOTED CLAPPER RAIL 



Rallus longirostris levipes Bangs (1899) 



KINGDOM Animalia 



CLASS Aves 



ORDER Gruifonnes 



FAMILY Rallidae 



OTHER COMMON NAMES King Rail (part), 



California Clapper Rail (part), Southern Cali- 

 fornia Clapper Rail, Bangs Rail, Light-footed 

 Rail, Southwestern Clapper Rail, Los Angeles 

 Clapper Rail (Grinnell and Miller 1944) 



DATES 



Entered into SWIS to be determined 



Update to be determined 



LEGAL STATUS 



Federal: Endangered (42FR36427, 14 July 

 1977). Protected Migratory Bird Treaty 

 Act, (40 Stat. 755; 16 USC 703-711, 

 3 July 1918) as amended 3 Dec. 1969. 

 PL91-135. 



State: California - Endangered 



REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS 



Formerly common in aU coastal marshes with- 

 in its geographic range, but now, because of drain- 

 age and/or filling of some marshes and pollution 



with chemicals and debris/?. /. levipes is much more 

 restricted in occurrence and fewer in numbers 

 (Willett 1912,1933,GrinneIleta]. 1918, Stephens 

 1919, Edwards 1922). It was not as well protected 

 from hunters as the California clapper rail, and its 

 range is being reduced by reclamation of marshes 

 (Bent 1926). 



Overharvesting may have occurred in some 

 areas, but reduction in populations can be at- 

 tributed almost entirely to loss of habitat. The 

 area of the salt marsh between Santa Barbara and 

 the Mexican Border is estimated to have been 

 10,500 ha, while at present there are approxi- 

 mately 3,440 ha (Speth 1971), much of which 

 has been degraded by water pollution, water di- 

 version, and restriction of tidal flow. Of the 4 ma- 

 jor habitat areas, only Anaheim Bay appears to be 



