Ridgway's Rail

Description:

In California this bird use to be called the Clapper Rail til it was discovered to be a subspecies.
Basically the same look as the Clapper Rail. Chicken-like bird, with medium length legs, long bill which is orange with dark sooty tip.Wavy barring from belly to undertail. Short tail and two tone brown body.

Habitat:

Spends most of the time in thick marsh cover of pickle weed and reeds.

Notes:

I'm usually told best time to see them is during high tide when they are trying to hide from the predators such as the Peregrine Falcon and Northern Harrier. But I get just as lucky finding them at low tide when the raptors are not around.