Baillon’s Crake (Porzana pusilla)

Measurements: 22-24cm long.

Most rails are highly secretive, but they at least make loud, distinctive sounds to announce their presence. The Baillon’s Crake’s, on the other hand, is different. Its advertising call, a rasping rattle, simply melts into the noisy background of a marsh at night. The sound is quite loud, but easily dismissed as a frog or insect. Furthermore, no comparable advertising call is recorded from the female at all. So perhaps it’s no wonder that this is our least-known, most elusive member of the rail family.

By Dr. Raju Kasambe – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76544682

The Baillon’s Crake differs from the other small crakes in the nature of its habitat. It is drawn to quite low, often clumpy or tussocky marsh vegetation rather than tall stands. Favoured plants have thin stems, not thick like those of reeds, and light foliage. The surrounding water must not be especially deep, even though these tiny birds (which are smaller than Little Crakes, despite the name) can easily feed on floating vegetation, or when swimming.

Although it has a characteristically weak flight, making it look “like a fluttering ball”, the Baillon’s Crake is basically a migrant to Europe. Where it winters is still patchily known because of its secretive nature, but it is likely to be mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.