Despite its short wings, the Zapata rail may not be completely flightless. On morphological grounds it would be classed as a flightless species, since the pectoral girdle and wing are as reduced as in other species of rails that are considered to be flightless, but Bond reported that he saw one flutter about ten feet across a canal.
Despite its brief wingspan, the Zapata rail may not be entirely flightless. Morphologically speaking, it shares similarities with other flightless rails in terms of reduced pectoral girdle and wing development, but Bond observed one fluttering about ten feet across a canal.