The yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) is a small secretive marsh bird of the family Rallidae that is found in North America.

The yellow rail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[2] Gmelin based his description on the "yellow breasted gallinule" that had been briefly described in 1785 by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant in his book Arctic Zoology.

[6] Two subspecies are recognised:[5] Adults have brown upperparts streaked with black, a yellowish-brown breast, a light belly and barred flanks.

Findings indicate yellow rails overwinter in wet pine savanna habitats along the northern Gulf Coast region.

[10] Beetles (Coleoptera) account for the highest proportion of the birds' diet, followed by spiders (Araneae) and snails (Gastropods), whereas plant matter is dominated by sedges (Cyperaceae) and rushes (Juncaceae).