Virginia rail
The Virginia rail probe with its bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. It mainly eat insects and other aquatic invertebrates, like beetles, flies, dragonflies, crayfish, snails and earthworms. It can also eat aquatic animals like frogs, fish and some small snakes, as well as seeds. Animal preys constitute the biggest part of this bird's diet, but vegetation contributes to its diet in the fall and winter.
Zapata rail
The bird prefers to feed in sawgrass. The diet is not recorded, but most marsh rails are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates and plant material. The rails may disperse in the rainy season, returning to permanently flooded areas in the dry months.