Water Rail

How to recognise it

• Blue-grey face, neck and breast, with a dark brown back streaked black
• Slightly downcurved reddish bill, reddish eyes and a short tail
• Black-and-white patterned flanks and a white undertail with a few darker streaks
• Slightly smaller than a Moorhen, male and female look alike

Call and song

The call heard most often is usually likened to the quickly fading grunting of a disgruntled pig. The main call is a series of grunts, then a loud squeal like a piglet, ending in more grunts. The male's display call is a persistent hammering "kypp kypp kypp".

Where and when

The Water Rail breeds in Sweden and is a partial migrant. It lives in reedy lakes and sea bays in Götaland, Svealand and along the Norrland coast up to Västerbotten. Most move south and are in their wintering areas in September to November, though some winter in southern Sweden. The breeding season runs from April to August. It is reported all year round and from all 21 counties.

Food and behaviour

The Water Rail eats small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, insects and their larvae. In autumn and winter it eats more plant food: buds, shoots and seeds of water plants, berries and fruit. It flies short distances low over the reeds with its long legs dangling. Surprised in the open, it can freeze and stand completely still. In cold weather it may be forced into ditches, rubbish tips, gardens or onto ice.