Red-necked Crake

Taxobox
name = Red-necked Crake


status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Gruiformes
familia = Rallidae
genus = "Rallina"
species = "R. tricolor"
binomial = "Rallina tricolor"
binomial_authority = Gray, 1858

The Red-necked Crake ("Rallina tricolor") is a waterbird in the rail and crake family Rallidae.

Description

The Red-necked Crake is a large crake (length 25 cm, wingspan 40 cm, weight 200 g). Its head, neck and breast are red-brown, with a paler version of that color on the throat. The Upperparts are grey-brown, while the underparts grey-brown with pale barring. The underwing is barred black and white, the bill green, and the legs grey-brown.

Distribution and habitat

Red-necked crakes live in the Moluccas, Lesser Sundas, New Guinea lowlands and adjacent islands, and north-eastern Australia. They are found in tropical rainforests and dense vegetation close to permanent wetlands.

Behaviour

Diet

The bird's diet consists of amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans and molluscs.

Breeding

The bird rests on or close to ground in dense vegetation. It lays clutched of 3-5 dull-white eggs, the incubation periods of which are around 20 days. The chicks covered in black down, precocial and nidifugous.

Voice

The crake makes repetitive clicking calls and soft grunts.

Conservation

With a large range and no evidence of significant decline, this species is assessed as being of Least Concern.

References

* BirdLife International. (2007). Species factsheet: "Rallina tricolor". Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 14/6/2007
* Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J.; & Davies, J.N. (eds). (1994). "Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings". Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553069-1