African Rail
Rallus caerulescens
Adults are 27–28 cm (10.6–11.0 in) long, and have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, with black-and-white barring on the flanks and undertail. The sexes have similar plumage but the female is smaller. This is the only Rallus species with a plain back. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds. They have long toes, a short tail and a long slim dull red bill. The legs are red. Immature birds are similar to the adults, but the blue-grey is replaced by buff. They are noisy birds, with a trilled whistled treee-tee-tee-tee-tee call.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Brown-cheeked Rail
Rallus indicus
The species differs from the slightly smaller nominate form through its paler upperparts, brown-tinged underparts and a brown stripe through the eye. Compared to R. a. korejewi, it is darker above, has a browner breast, white on the throat and a more obvious brown eyestripe. As indicated above, it has different vocalisations to the other forms, and is now usually given full species status, although its behaviour, nest and eggs are identical to those of other subspecies of water rail.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: African Rail and Brown-cheeked Rail.