Red-necked crake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red-necked crake |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Rallina
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| Species: |
tricolor
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| Synonyms | |
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Tomirdus tricolor (Gray, 1858) |
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The red-necked crake (Rallina tricolor) is a colorful waterbird. It belongs to the rail and crake family, which is called Rallidae. This bird is often hard to spot because it is very shy.
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What Does the Red-necked Crake Look Like?
The red-necked crake is a medium-sized bird. It grows to about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. Its wings can spread up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide. An adult bird weighs around 200 grams, which is about as much as a small can of soda.
Its head, neck, and chest are a reddish-brown color. The throat is a bit lighter. The top part of its body is grey-brown. The belly and underside are also grey-brown with light stripes. Under its wings, you can see cool black and white stripes. The bird has a green beak and grey-brown legs.
Where Do Red-necked Crakes Live?
Red-necked crakes live in several places. You can find them in the Moluccas and Lesser Sundas islands. They also live in the lowlands of New Guinea and nearby islands. In Australia, they are found in the north-eastern parts.
These birds prefer to live in tropical rainforests. They like areas with thick plants and trees. They always stay close to permanent wetlands, which are places like swamps or marshes that always have water.
How Do Red-necked Crakes Behave?
What Do Red-necked Crakes Eat?
The red-necked crake has a varied diet. It eats small creatures it finds in or near water. Its meals include amphibians like frogs. It also eats aquatic invertebrates, which are small animals without backbones, such as insects. Crustaceans like small crabs or shrimp are also on their menu. Finally, they enjoy molluscs, which are soft-bodied animals like snails.
Red-necked Crake Life Cycle
These birds build their nests on or very close to the ground. They hide their nests in thick plants. A female crake usually lays 3 to 5 dull-white eggs. The eggs take about 20 days to hatch. This period is called incubation.
When the chicks hatch, they are covered in soft, black down. They are born ready to move around and find food on their own. This means they are precocial and nidifugous.
What Sounds Do Red-necked Crakes Make?
The red-necked crake makes a few different sounds. They often make repetitive clicking calls. They also make soft grunting noises.
Are Red-necked Crakes Safe?
The red-necked crake is considered a species of least concern. This means there are many of them, and their numbers are not dropping quickly. They live across a large area.
Because they are so secretive, scientists don't study them much. People also don't see them very often. However, they seem to be common in New Guinea. In Australia, their numbers have gone down. This is mainly because their habitat (the place where they live) is being lost.
