At 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) in length, they are slightly smaller than the spotted crake, from which they are readily distinguished by the lack of dark barring and white spots on the flanks. The little crake has a short straight bill, yellow with a red base. They have green legs with long toes, and a short tail which is barred black and white underneath. Unlike other Porzana crakes, this species has strong sexual dimorphism: Adult males have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey face and underparts. They resemble the sympatric Baillon's crake (P. pusilla), which has strongly barred flanks and is a bit smaller however. Females have buff underparts, and are grey only on the face; they are more similar to the yellow-breasted crake (P. flaviventer) of the American tropics. Immature little crakes are similar to the female but have a white face and breast. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.
The little crake is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos and video Zakaki, 28/11/2015 by George Konstantinou
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