About the Corn Crake
The corn crake, corncrake or landrail is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- or grey-streaked brownish-black upperparts, chestnut markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail. The strong bill is flesh-toned, the iris is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Juveniles are similar in plumage to adults, and downy chicks are black, as with all rails. There are no subspecies, although individuals from the east of the breeding range tend to be slightly paler than their…
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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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Corn Crake sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Spain, Portugal, India, Canada, Rwanda, Botswana, Brazil, Syria.
When to see it
Peak activity in June · a summer visitor species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Red-knobbed CootFulica cristataThe red-knobbed coot is largely black except for the white frontal shield.
Red-gartered CootFulica armillataThe red-gartered coot is 43 to 51 cm (17 to 20 in) long.
Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinicaThe purple gallinule is a medium-sized rail, measuring 26–37 cm (10–15 in) in length, spanning 50–61 cm (20–24 in) across the wings and weighing 141–305 g (5.0–10.8 oz).
Side by side: Corn Crake vs Red-knobbed Coot · Corn Crake vs Purple Gallinule · Corn Crake vs Red-gartered Coot
Learn the Corn Crake for real
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