As one of Minnesota and the Midwest's rarest and least known species, I thought an article published back in 1999 in the Journal of Field Ornithology (Vol 70, no. 4, pp. 465-480) (authors Larry Spear, Scott Terrill, Colleen Lenihan, and Penelope Delevoryas) might have some relevance to Midwest birders trying to locate this mythical creature. I say "might " because the article concerns the California subspecies, but there is enough interesting data that some hints for finding Black Rails might be applicable to the Midwest population. Black Rails have been reported very rarely as far north as the Twin Cities and rumored as far north as St. Cloud so anyone in the southern half of the state ought to be aware of its possible presence. Researchers found detection probability was relatively stable between late April and early June, but increased from mid-June to early July, probably because of the appearance of young-of-the-year. Detection probability was greatest and variation least from sunrise to about 1.5 hours thereafter, and likewise for the 1.5 hour period preceding sunset. Detections declined abruptly 0.75 hours after sunset and were similarly low during the 1.5 hour period before sunrise. Detections decreased with an increase in cloud cover and increased with an increase in air temperature and moonlight (during the preceding night). Much of the previous search image of at least eastern birds was based on a couple of old articles in Birding based on the birds at Elliot Island, Maryland where they seemed to like to call on full moon nights in May after 10 p.m. This article shows that another search image might be also productive. Bob Russell, US Fish and Wildife Service, Ft. Snelling, MN
