A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that lives brackish tidal marshes and rarely flies.

[2] It has a long, downward curving bill and is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and conspicuous whitish rump patch.

Mussels, clams, arthropods, snails, worms and small fish are its preferred foods, which it retrieves by probing and scavenging the surface while walking.

The bird will only forage on mudflats or very shallow water where there is taller plant material nearby to provide protection at high tide.

[8] The omnivorous Ridgway's rail eats many things, including clams, crabs, mussels, and occasionally small rodents and birds.