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Spotted Crake

 
Spotted Crake

 
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Spotted Crake
 
 
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The Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana) is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae
Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large Cosmopolitan distribution family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable Biodiversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules....
.

Their breeding habitat is marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
es and sedge
Cyperaceae

The family Cyperaceae, or the sedges, is a taxon of monocotyledon flowering plants that superficially resemble Poaceae or Juncaceae. The family is large, with some 4,000 species described in about 70 genera....
 beds across temperate Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 into western Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
. They nest in a dry location in marsh vegetation, laying 6-15 egg
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
s. This species is migratory
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
, wintering in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.

At 19-22.5 cm length, Spotted Crakes are slightly smaller than Water Rail
Water Rail

The Water Rail or European Water Rail is a small wetland bird of the Rallidae.Its breeding habitat is marshes and reedbeds across Europe and Asia....
s, from which they are readily distinguished by the short straight bill, yellow with a red base.






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Encyclopedia


The Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana) is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae
Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large Cosmopolitan distribution family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable Biodiversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules....
.

Their breeding habitat is marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
es and sedge
Cyperaceae

The family Cyperaceae, or the sedges, is a taxon of monocotyledon flowering plants that superficially resemble Poaceae or Juncaceae. The family is large, with some 4,000 species described in about 70 genera....
 beds across temperate Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 into western Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
. They nest in a dry location in marsh vegetation, laying 6-15 egg
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
s. This species is migratory
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
, wintering in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.

At 19-22.5 cm length, Spotted Crakes are slightly smaller than Water Rail
Water Rail

The Water Rail or European Water Rail is a small wetland bird of the Rallidae.Its breeding habitat is marshes and reedbeds across Europe and Asia....
s, from which they are readily distinguished by the short straight bill, yellow with a red base. Adults have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey breast, with dark barring and white spots on the flanks. They have green legs with long toes, and a short tail which is buff underneath.

Immature Spotted Crakes are similar, but the blue-grey is replaced by brown. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails
Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large Cosmopolitan distribution family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable Biodiversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules....
.

The only confusion species is the Sora
Sora (crake)

The Sora is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae, sometimes also referred to as the Sora Rail or Sora Crake.Adults Soras are long, with dark-marked brown upperparts, a blue-grey face and underparts, and black and white barring on the flanks....
, a rare vagrant from North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. However, that species lacks the breast spotting and has an unstreaked crown stripe.

These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s and aquatic animals.

Spotted Crakes are very secretive in the breeding season, and are then mostly heard rather than seen. They are then noisy bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, with a distinctive repetitive whiplash-like hwuit, hwuit call. They can be easier to see on migration.

The Spotted is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA
AEWA

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds is the largest of its kind developed so far under the Bonn Convention....
) applies.



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