Species:

Little Crake (Zapornia parva)

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Change species:
Main Images:
Length (cm):
18-20
18-20
Wingspan (cm):
34-39
48-57
Weight (gram):
40-60
55-73
Size group:
Thrush-size
Thrush-size
Main Texts:
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:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


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:

Marked black breast-band and mask. Olive-brown upperparts and white underparts. Easily confused with Little Ringed Plover (especially juveniles). Diagnostic characters in adults are; striking white wing-bars (only faint in Little Ringed Plover), orange base of bill and legs, and no yellow eye-ring. Juveniles also show characteristic wing-bars, white supercilium extends behind the eye, lower part of "mask" is rounded and bill is stouter. Tertials do not cover tips of primaries.

Sound:

Usually heard before seen. Contact call a short, soft "koo-eep", with the emphasised second part higher and rising in pitch. Song a cyclic repetition of the contact call. Sometimes with a shortened phrases and a more creaking timbre.

Flight call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


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:Peter Boesman, Licence,Link.

Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Rails
Silhouette
Waders
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file