Although it breeds locally throughout most provinces, the highly secretive Virginia Rail often remains unseen (Conway 1995). Results from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest an increase in the Canadian population, though the precision of these results is moderate. Shorter-term regional results from Marsh Monitoring Programs in Ontario and Quebec show little change or even a slight decline in abundance, perhaps reflecting temporal or regional variation. Virginia Rail can be legally hunted through much of North America, but is rarely taken (Conway 1995). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Despite overall increases in recent years, the Virginia Rail is absent from many historically-occupied areas that were drained for farming and development (e.g., in Ontario: Tozer 2007a), and wetland loss likely contributed to past declines (Conway 1995). Pesticide ingestion or collisions during migration may be important causes of mortality, and reproductive success may be sensitive to changing water levels and other disturbance (Conway 1995).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
