Baillon's Crake

Zapornia pusilla (Pallas, 1776)

Baillon's Crake, Zapornia pusilla, is a rail found across the Palearctic, Africa, the Oriental Region and Australasia. It breeds in sedge beds, swamps and wet sedge bogs, and its range extends from eastern Europe to Honshu in Japan. It is a migratory bird, with wintering grounds in East Africa and South Asia, while also breeding in Africa and Australasia. It is a small waterbird with a short straight bill, and adults show ochre-brown upperparts, light blue-grey underparts, barred flanks and under-tail, and olive-green legs with long toes.

Order

Gruiformes

Family

Rallidae — Rails, Crakes & Coots

Breeding range

Palearctic, Africa, Oriental Region, Australasia: widespread