What does the Virginia Rail sound like at night?
Press play. If that is the sound outside, you have your answer — the Virginia Rail's "grr-unh-unh... grr-unh-unh!".
What you're hearing
A pair lets loose with long, rough bursts of grunting that sound almost piglike.
“grr-unh-unh... grr-unh-unh!”
Birders often file this one under Piglike grunts from a pair.
What time of night you hear it
Dusk and after dark in freshwater marshes, spring and summer.
Most northern populations migrate nocturnally from late August–October and March–May. Peak vocal activity occurs shortly after arrival on breeding grounds and again at dusk and dawn during the nesting season.
Why a Virginia Rail calls at night
A hard, metallic kid-ick kid-ick, or a descending grunting series, from inside dense cattails. Rails call most at dusk and through the night, and they essentially never come out into the open — so the voice is the entire encounter.
What else could it be?
The other voices you are most likely to hear in the dark. Play them and compare.