Specie's Page                                               Water Fowl - Water Rail

Water Rail:   UK Status: Resident.

Habitat: This small water bird inhabits the fringes of lakes and pools, and sometimes slow flowing rivers and steams. Very similar in appearance to the Common Moorhen, but is smaller and slimmer and differs somewhat in it's markings.

Breeding: Water Rails breed between March and July, and make their nests in dense vegetation, often at the waterside. Nests are made with local vegetation, and are often cup shaped in appearance. The female lays six to eleven off white coloured eggs, streaked and blotched with darker brownish marks, The eggs take about three weeks to hatch, and the chicks are able to feed themselves within a few hours of hatching.

Comment: Fairly common over the UK, but not often seen. This birds spends most of the time in dense reed beds, rarely even coming out as far as the fringes. To see this very secretive bird  in the open is a rare treeat for observers