Water Rail

The Water Rail is a slender, secretive rail of Eurasian wetlands, with olive-brown upperparts streaked black, blue-gray face and underparts, and boldly barred black-and-white flanks. Its long, slightly downcurved bill is a distinctive bright red.

Despite being widespread across much of Europe and Asia, it is rarely seen in the open, spending nearly all its time deep within dense reedbed cover.

Key field marks

• Long, slightly downcurved red bill
• Blue-gray face and underparts
• Olive-brown, black-streaked upperparts
• Bold black-and-white barred flanks
• Short, cocked tail flashing white undertail coverts

Similar species

The Corn Crake has a shorter, paler bill, buffier plumage, and lives in dry grassland and hay meadows rather than reedbeds. The Common Moorhen is larger and darker overall with a very different bill shape.

Habitat

Dense reedbeds, marshes, and vegetated ditches.

Range and migration

Found across most of Europe and temperate Asia. Northern and eastern populations migrate south or west to milder wetlands for winter, while western European populations are largely resident.

Behavior

Extremely secretive, rarely venturing into the open and usually detected only by its unmistakable call.

Voice

An eerie, pig-like squealing call, sometimes called 'sharming,' along with sharp grunting notes.

Feeding

Probes mud and shallow water for insects, worms, and small fish, walking with a jerky, tail-flicking gait.

Nesting and breeding

Builds a well-concealed nest of reeds and grass just above the waterline within dense vegetation.