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:

Differs from Common Tern in shorter head, and blood-red bill. Legs shorter, but tail streamers longer (extends well past wings in sitting birds). Underparts of primaries with sharply bordered dark trailing edge (diffusely bordered in Common Tern). Both primaries and secondaries transparent to sunlight. Crest less apparent than in Common Tern and underside greyer. Cheeks white just below the black cap, often in contrast to grey lower cheeks. Juveniles lacks buff coloured back.

Sound:

Similar to Common Tern but higher pitched. Typical call a series of high pitched "tip-tip-tip", and longer, ringing, high-pitched "kriiiiii" calls. The drawn out "kree-aaahh" call falls less distinctly in pitch than Common Tern.

Calls:

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-sound:Stein Ø. Nilsen, Licence,Link.