It is a year-round resident of the coastal areas of the Eastern seacoast, the Gulf of Mexico and southern California, as well as Baja California in Mexico, where it lives in coastal sea marshes. Clappers call chiefly in early morning and early evening hours. The legs of the clapper rail are strong and the bill long and thin. In fact, some king rails winter in coastal marshes with clapper rails. Where their territories overlap, the clapper rail and king rail may mate.
Some experts even consider king and clapper rails to be one species.