The American black rail is one of the smallest birds in the rail family. It has dark plumage with white spots, a short beak, and a secretive lifestyle in marshes.
The American black rail differs from other rails by its very small size and almost black coloration with white spots. It is important for wetland ecosystems because it eats insects and serves as food for other animals.
Collects food with its beak from the surface of the ground or from water.
pecking
Worker
birth time
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
days
South and Central America, hot and humid, huge forests
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
beak
adult
Maturity
plant
South and Central America, hot and humid, huge forests
insects
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm and almost no rain
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
rains are very rare, almost a desert
conifer cones
Trophic type
Filters
Upcoming birthdays
standing fresh waters — lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes
Breeding structure built or used for laying eggs and raising offspring.
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
live snails — terrestrial and aquatic
Desert and dry shrubs
rains almost always, very humid
Age (from birth to death)
cones of coniferous trees with seeds
most of Europe and Asia, various forests, steppes and tundra
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Warm summer and frequent rains
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
summer warm, rains frequent
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
swampy freshwater biotopes — peat bogs, marshes, river mangroves
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
where the river flows into the sea, slightly salty water, lots of fish and birds
Pets
Nearctic realm
Repeatedly strikes or probes substrate with beak to obtain food.
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
Wingspan
turns
Rascals
Flooded grasslands
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
snails
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
38 to 65 grams, 15 – 40 centimeters
all rivers and lakes
Summer almost without rain
Down color
Locomotion through water employed while searching for or capturing prey.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
lakes and ponds
freshwater marsh and wetlands
Taxons
almost no rain in summer, more precipitation in winter
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
Palearctic realm
swimming
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
Neotropical realm
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
Neotropical realm
Beak size
Potential Habitat
Very hot summer
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Feeding occurs in water bodies such as rivers, lakes, or oceans.
lots of rain, summer not hot
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
aquatic
summer very hot, above +25…+30 °C
{name} birthday
Nearctic realm
Always hot
No results found
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
Eyes color
On the map
small crustaceans
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Maturity
sq mm
yr
Beak color
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
humid
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
Legs color
What if eaten?
spiders
Very dry
Neither
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
nest
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
Plumage color
water often floods the land, lots of grass
River estuary into the sea
Freshwater
Temperate mixed forest
Duration
live insects
This is me
Warm summer with almost no rain
freshwater
Always very wet
Gamers
How are they built?
Cool summer and lots of rain
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
live spiders — arachnids of all sizes
Asexual
swap
freshwater environment — rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Warm summer and lots of rain
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
very hot all year round, frequent rains, but sometimes dry
Daddies
small crabs, amphipods and other crustaceans
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
embryo
Hard, projecting mouthpart used to probe, pluck, or crack food.
Orange
summer warm, many oaks, birches, maples
Length
kg
very hot and dry, rare rains, cacti live
lots of rain, warm and pleasant summer
Observations
◉{N} more on tap