Appearance:

Differs from Baillon's Crake in long primary projection in all plumages. At least 5 tips of primaries visible behind tertials. Adult birds show red base of bill, but this is sometimes difficult to see and immature may lack this altogether. Male with lead grey underparts, female with grey face and buff underparts. Immature with barred and spotted underparts but less so than immature Baillon's. The crown is also more evenly dark together with dark ear coverts. The species appears slimmer than Baillon's Crake due to longer neck, tail and legs.

Sound:

Rich repertoire of calls used freely in breeding season. Male song diagnostic. A loud series of short, nasal ascending "quek" repeated every one and a half seconds or so, before accelerating and descending at the same time to a more guttural voice. Female song with similar short "quek" but with less pure tone and in shorter series (sometimes just one call), immediately followed by a rolling trill.

Male song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:Rudo Jureček, Licence,Link.

CC-Photo:Arie en Anneke Kolders, Licence,Link.

CC-Photo:Jorrit Vlot, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small bustard about the seize of female pheasant. Stocky body, small head, slender neck and fairly long legs. Male: Grey head, black neck with two white rings, finely vermiculated upperparts and white underparts. Odd short p7 in male. Female lacks black neck and all upperparts are a vermiculated sandy brown. Young and non-breeding males similar to females, but often with a hint of white breast-band and more clearly defined white underparts. Told from Great Bustard in flight by clear cut black wing-tips and primary coverts in sharp contrast to white wing, and white secondaries. Flushed birds take off in noisy, grouse-like manner with rapid wing-beats and interspersed short glides on bowed wings. Longer flight with quick wing-beats mostly below level of back.

Sound:

Wings in male produces a whistling sound when flying and in display flight. Flushed birds give a hoarse grunt "ugh". Female sometimes utters e mewing "miee". Male song a short and dry "prrrt", that is far reaching. Given from ground in display in 5 - 10 seconds intervals with raised neck-feathers and jumps in the air.

Song, wing-noise:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:Viskens Michel, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Hans Verdaat, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Viskens Michel, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Pedro N. Ramalho, Licence,Link.