Râle élégant
Photo : Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Râle élégantQuebec wildlife

Rallus elegans

Rallidae

No period published by Québec.ca

Québec.ca publishes no hunting or trapping period for this species. Check the official regulations.

Wikipedia

Râle élégant

The king rail (Rallus elegans) is a large, mostly brown rail native to North America, where it breeds in marshes.

Description

Distinct features are a long bill with a slight downward curve, with adults being brown on the back and rusty-brown on the face and breast with a dark brown cap. They also have a white throat and a light belly with barred flanks. Undertail coverts are white and are displayed by the male during courtship. Immature birds are covered in down, with light brown on the head and darker brown on the back and wings. The males are larger than females, the male weighing on average 369 g (13.0 oz) and the female weighing 309 g (10.9 oz). This bird's call is a low repeated grunt transcribed as kek-kek-kek.

Text from WikipediaKing rail, revision 1367460256, CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-09-04. Encyclopedic text reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Sentences about hunting or regulation are removed: on this site, the rule comes from Québec.ca.

Other names

English

Big Virginia RailMarsh HenFresh-water Marsh HenRed-breasted-rail

Presence in Quebec

Origin
Indigène
Occurrence
Accidentel/non régulier
Population status
Migrateur
Certainty
Confirmé

Conservation

Provincial rankSNA — non applicable
Status (ESVA Act)Non suivie
JurisdictionEnvironnement et Changement climatique Canada

Québec.ca

Official periods

Source: Québec.ca — tables reproduced as published (retrieved 2026-08-30).

Québec.ca publishes no hunting or trapping period for this species. See the official regulations:

Regulations change. Always check Québec.ca before hunting or trapping.

Where this data comes from

This species is listed in an official government dataset. The identification and status shown in the data sheet are reproduced from it.

Source: List of Quebec’s vertebrate wildlife (LFVQ)Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. File LFVQ_25_03_2026.csv, retrieved 2026-08-30 · CC BY 4.0.

Measurements, habitat, diet and reproduction are not shown: no official source is attached to them yet.