Bird Identification Help

[Annie in MN]

Can anybody tell me what bird this is? I live in SE MN, near the Mississippi flyway, have open fields to the south of me, and oak woods/wetlands/lake to the north. I surprised it by moving the junk it was hiding under. It just walked away from me, did not fly. It stands tall, but the body itself is fairly small, smaller than a robin. It hopped into my grape vine, about a foot off the ground. It was alone, no other birds around it or being upset that I was near it. It did not make a sound either. I don't recall ever seeing anything like it.
Thanks for any help!

[Jennifer L.]

It's a Sora, a variety of short billed rail. I had to look it up in my Peterson field guide.

Jennifer

[naturewoman]

That is one cool bird!

[poppy]

Cool!! That looks to be the rarely seen Milermore.

[Annie in MN]

Thanks for the help JenniferL! If I were more of a birder and actually had a lifelist, I'd be adding to it. I've never even heard of the Sora, let alone seen one! Poppy,

[suitcase_sally]

A wetland bird. I found this site - down near the bottom is a US map showing distribution of the bird.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/l.../sora/sora.htm

[sage_morgan]

I've never seen this bird, I'm in NE Nebr, so it's still a possibility for me, given a bird that doesn't look at the distribution maps.

Thanks for the education!!! ... how cool!

[PurpleMartineer]

Yep thats a sora rail! cool ) I used to work at a wildlife rehab center in south florida, and we occasionally got those in. They are secretive and rarely seen!
Exciting ;o)