Appearance:

Small dabbling duck. Males unmistakable with broad white supercilium and high contrast between the dark mottled breast and the lighter flanks (visible at considerable distance). Female mottled in light brown colours with typical supercilium and contrasting eye-stripe. White spot at base of bill. Throat much lighter than in Teal. Both sexes with dark and fairly long bill. Head gives a square impression due to the flat crown. Speculum in flight shows narrow white edges, lacking Teal's broad front edge. Agile flight, but lacks the twists of Teals.

Sound:

Male display sound a characteristic dry rattling, like the sound of running fingernails along the teeth of a comb. A bit similar to Ptarmigan. Also heard at other times than when courting. Female: like female Teal, but typically a bit deeper and shorter calls.

Display-call male:

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

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.