by Catherine Warwick
One of the birds leaving Calgary this September is the Sora. Were you one of the lucky few who saw it at the North Glenmore storm pond?
A few years ago, I saw one of these charismatic birds in Inglewood, I was with my sister who is not really a birder. The conversation went like this:
(a Sora just casually standing in a pond in full view)
Me: Holy Cow! A Sora! Wow I can’t believe it, look at it! Wow! We are so lucky, how rare.
Sister: That’s nice.
Me: We are so lucky! This is amazing!
Sister: Uh huh (starts walking).
And yet if she became a birder and started looking for a Sora, it would probably take years to see one. I trolled that North Glenmore Storm Pond so many times this summer and nothing! The Sora is one of those birds only birders know about, even though they are common they are really good at hiding in the reeds.
The Sora is a plump little chicken-like bird that belongs to the Rail family. They frequent ponds and wetlands. The Sora has very long toes that help them walk on floating mats of vegetation. They are grey and brown with an impossibly yellow triangle beak. The first time I saw one at the storm pond I thought it was floating because it was standing in water that came up to its undercarriage. I was flipping through my Sibleys looking for a duck with a yellow triangle beak. The most obvious identifier is their call, a descending laughing sound. Although lately I feel like the Red Wing black birds around the storm pond are mimicking it which has caused me a lot of disappointment. Birding – what a roller coaster!
When a Sora walks it puts its head forward with each step as it looks for aquatic plant seeds or bugs to eat. It’s been known to use its long toes to rake the vegetation. Their long legs are great for running away really quickly, often you will just get a glimpse of them. A brown blur with a yellow streak.
Now that it’s September, our little storm pond Sora will be departing on a very long journey, possibly as far as South America. They fly further than any other Rail despite their circular form and long legs. Hopefully it is back next year, and I can have another season of attempting to spot the beguiling Sora.
USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo by Diane Stinson. June 2, 2025, North Glenmore Park.
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