In the late 1800s, California introduced red foxes for hunting and fur farms; at Seal Beach, they drove light-footed Ridgway's rails down to just 5 pairs in 7 years

In the marshes of Southern California, a small, shy bird has been fighting for survival for more than a century. The light-footed Ridgway’s rail is rarely seen, but its story shows how one human decision made generations ago can still impact an ecosystem today. According to a 2020 species review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, citing a 1994 California Department of Fish and Game report, non-native red foxes introduced in California in the late 1800s eventually drove the rail's population at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge down to just five breeding pairs within seven years.

A shy marsh bird most people have never heard of