Corn Crake
Crex crex
The corn crake is a medium-sized rail, 27–30 cm (11–12 in) long with a wingspan of 42–53 cm (17–21 in). Males weigh 165 g (5.8 oz) on average and females 145 g (5.1 oz). The adult male has the crown of its head and all of its upperparts brown-black in colour, streaked with buff or grey. The wing coverts are a distinctive chestnut colour with some white bars. The face, neck and breast are blue-grey, apart from a pale brown streak from the base of the bill to behind the eye, the belly is white, and the flanks, and undertail are barred with chestnut and white. Voice: On the breeding grounds, the male corn crake's advertising call is a loud, repetitive, grating krek krek normally delivered from a low perch with the bird's head and neck almost vertical and its bill wide open. The call can be heard from 1.5 km (0.93 mi) away, and serves to establish the breeding territory, attract females, and challenge intruding males.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Red-knobbed Coot
Fulica cristata
The red-knobbed coot is largely black except for the white frontal shield. It is 35–42 cm (14–17 in) long, spans 75–85 cm (30–33 in) across the wings. Males weigh 770–910 g (27–32 oz), females are slightly smaller and weigh 455–790 g (16.0–27.9 oz). The sexes are alike. As a swimming species, it has partial webbing on its long strong toes. The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield; the adult's black plumage develops when about 3–4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old, some time later.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
Learn this pair in BeakBrain
Photo and call practice, free in any browser.
Play BeakBrainPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Corn Crake and Red-knobbed Coot.