Sora

Each little whistle leans upward into its second note: ker-WEE, with a pause before the next one.

Breeds across most of Canada and the northern United States. Migrates through the continental U.S. and Caribbean. Winters in the southern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. A few linger year-round in the Gulf Coast and southern California.

Shallow freshwater and brackish marshes with cattail, bulrush, sedge, wild rice, and other emergent vegetation; wet meadows, rice fields, flooded pasture, and mangrove edges during migration and winter.

Northbound migrants appear from March–May; peak nesting June–July. Southbound movement begins August, with most gone from northern marshes by late October. Winter birds are largely sedentary until spring.

The Sora is North America's most widespread rail, a compact marsh bird about the length of a small robin, with a stubby yellow bill, slate-gray face, black mask, and warm patterned back.