Spotted Crake

The spotted crake is a small waterbird of the rail family, 19–22.5 cm long, slightly smaller than the water rail and readily told from it by a short, straight bill that is yellow with a red base. Adults have mainly brown upperparts, a blue-grey breast, dark barring and white spots on the flanks, green legs with long toes and a short tail that is buff underneath. The downy chicks are black (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into western Asia, nesting in a dry spot in marsh vegetation with 6–15 eggs. It is migratory, wintering in Africa and Pakistan. Very secretive in the breeding season, it is then mostly heard rather than seen, with a distinctive repetitive whiplash-like hwuit call, and it is easier to see on migration. It mainly eats insects and aquatic animals (Wikipedia, general species account).