Adult soras are 19–30 cm (7.5–11.8 in) long, with dark-marked brown upperparts, a blue-grey face and underparts, and black and white barring on the flanks.

Sexes are similar, but young soras lack the black facial markings and have a whitish face and buff breast.

[2] Linnaeus based his description on the "little American water hen" that George Edwards had described and illustrated in 1750 from a specimen collected near the Hudson Bay.

[3] Linnaeus also cited Mark Catesby who had described the "soree" in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.

[6] Adult soras are 19–30 cm (7.5–11.8 in)[9][10][11] long, with dark-marked brown upperparts, a blue-grey face and underparts, and black and white barring on the flanks.

Sexes are similar, but young soras lack the black facial markings and have a whitish face and buff breast.

[12] Soras have two common calls: a loud, squeaking "whinny" that decelerates and descends in pitch, often used to advertise territories; and a softer, ascending "ker-wee" or "sor-ah".

From southern Kansas south to northern and eastern Texas and east through the inland areas of the southeastern United States, soras are typically only observed during migration in the spring and fall.

Breeding sora density was significantly (p<0.001) correlated (r=0.62) with the perimeter:area ratio of northwestern Iowa marshes.

Indices of sora population at 3 "levels of response" were significantly (p<0.01) correlated (r≥0.70) with the number of ponds present in the prairie pothole region of North Dakota in May.

For instance, a sora was observed 3 mi (4.8 km) from marshland in a cultivated field in Iowa in the middle of August.

A male sora was observed less than 1,000 ft (300 m) from a large wetland in a soybean (Glycine max) field in northwestern Iowa during the postbreeding period.

[15] From early June to mid-July, soras were observed on farms in Saskatchewan sown mainly with wheat (Triticum aestivum).

[24][22] In western New York, soras occurred during the breeding season on a study site where 26% of the area was categorized as "flooded timber," and 5% was classed as "scrub/shrub marsh".

[22] On a nonbreeding (August–April) site in southwestern Arizona, soras were found to use a "mixed shrub community" more than expected based on its availability.

[24] Sora numbers in wetlands of northeastern North Dakota were significantly (p<0.05) positively correlated (r=0.45) with hectares of live emergent vegetation.

Reported density of emergent vegetation ranges from an average of 121.9 stems/m2 in sora territories in northwestern Iowa [21] to 333 stems/m2 on sites in northeastern Missouri used during fall migration.

[16] In marshes of western New York, average vegetation height at sora nesting sites was shorter than at random locations.

However, in marshes of western New York, there was a significant (p=0.041) negative relationship between percent flooded timber on a site and sora relative abundance.

[22] In marshes of northwestern Iowa, broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) occurred in sora territories significantly (p<0.01) more often than at random sites.

However, in southeastern Wisconsin during the breeding season, there was no significant (p=0.943) difference in sora densities between habitats composed predominantly of cattail, sedge, or bulrush.

[28] In a study performed in southeastern Missouri, plant species used by sora during spring and fall migration differed significantly (p=0.005).

[24] A nest search and literature review study of soras in Colorado reports a clutch initiated in early August.

Sora females begin construction of saucer-shaped nests on the ground or on a platform over shallow water at the start of egg laying.

The authors conclude that diminished water level interacting with predators and trampling by cattle resulted in decreased hatching success.

Animals that are commonly reported as sora food items include snails (Gastropoda), crustaceans (Crustacea), spiders (Araneae), and insects (Insecta), mainly beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), flies (Diptera), and dragonflies (Odonata).

[32][37][38] Seeds of annual wildrice (Zizania aquatica) and rice cutgrass are eaten by soras in the eastern United States.

[37] Plant material such as hairy crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), fall panicgrass (Panicum dichotomiflorum), and bristlegrass (Setaria spp.)

The volume of animal material in esophagi collected in spring was predominantly composed of adult beetles and snails from the Physidae family.

[32] Sora eggs are eaten by several species including American minks (Neogale vison), skunks (Mephitidae), coyotes (Canis latrans), grackles (Quiscalus spp.