Black Rail Working Group

The Texas Black Rail Working Group was established to address research gaps and potential conservation initiatives for the federally-petitioned Eastern Black Rail (a subspecies of Black Rail). The first meeting for the Texas Black Rail Working Group was hosted by Cliff Shackelford of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and facilitated by Kimberly Horndeski at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in Lake Jackson, Texas. The meeting consisted of presentations and a field visit guided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff to survey the habitat and band captured Black Rails. Twenty-three participants from five states attended the meeting. This meeting laid the foundation for the creation of the Texas Black Rail Working Group which subsequently occurred afterwards due to the efforts by Kimberly Horndeski.

Following the initial meeting, Kimberly Horndeski facilitated a Texas Black Rail Working Group workshop. The objective of the workshop was to continue to foster connectedness between and among like-minded participants on the long-term project, share additional information about the federally-petitioned Eastern Black Rail, and to continue to coordinate research and conservation actions for the Black Rail throughout its range. Representatives from seven states presented on the research conducted on the species and provided updates about the activities of their agencies or organizations. Through these coordinated efforts, we realized there was a population of Black Rails in Colorado and were able to connect the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

The overwhelming participation, enthusiasm and commitment to continue to work together from participants states outside of Texas led the Texas Working Group to become a national working group, Black Rail Working Group (covering the Western Gulf Coast and Great Plains). Our work can be found in the Black Rail Species Status Assessment.