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Atlas Results

Sora were reported across the province in 1,225 squares from southmost parts into the far north, with exception to the rugged Selwyn Lake Uplands ecoregion in the far northeast. The largest areas of high relative abundance were found in the Aspen Parkland, Boreal Transition, and Mid-Boreal Lowland ecoregions, while drought conditions likely limited Sora habitat in the naturally drier, grassland-dominated ecoregions. Although Sora are easily detected with their loud and frequent vocalisations, their habit of keeping out of sight in dense emergent wetland vegetation resulted in only 47 squares reporting confirmed breeding where observations consisted largely of recently fledged young.

Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.

Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:

Slam your car door at most cattail marshes around Saskatchewan during the summer and a Sora will likely respond with a high, descending whinny. Like the other rails, Soras are secretive by nature; on occasion, however, you may be lucky enough to see this striking bird foraging in the open, darting about after aquatic insects and other prey items. Soras breed from southeast Alaska and southwest Newfoundland south to southern New Mexico and Pennsylvania; they winter from Oregon, southern Texas, and Delaware south through Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America.

Soras are generalists; they will use large, deep-water wetlands dominated by dense cattail, reeds, and bulrushes; the edges of lakes and streams; small freshwater and alkaline ponds; sedge fens; and even "small sloughs with hardly more than a fringe of willows or grass? (Callin 1980).

The Sora is a common summer resident of the southern boreal, parkland, and grassland regions and uncommon in the northern boreal forest as far north as Lake Athabasca and the Porcupine River (Smith 1996).

Original text by Kristen Martin and Jared B. Clarke. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky

Read more about the Sora in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.

LeeAnn M. Latremouille

Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Sora in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=SORA&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]