rails

Crane

Saltlane

The symbol of elegance, the Common Crane is a majestic bird. Although originating from distant lands, it is now quite happily living in Britain. It is the largest wading bird in Europe and, as astonishing as it may sound, Common Cranes are closely related to Rails, Coots and Moorhens!

The Common Crane has long legs and a long narrow neck. Its plumage is blueish-grey. Its head and the top of its neck are black and white and there is a patch of red on the crown. In flight, its neck and legs are outstretched, which makes it easy to differentiate from Herons. Their flight call is a loud, bugling "grous-grous".

Common Cranes like open areas that are cultivated where they can find large amounts of food, such as corn fields. Foraging is usually done in small groups. They are omnivores and eat a wide variety of food, from small mammals, insects, amphibians, and molluscs to plant shoots, seeds, berries and leaves.

They have an elaborate courtship display which consists of performing a kind of 'bow dance', with jumps, open wings and other loving signals. They pair for life even though they will perform the courtship display every year - to show how much they love each other. Cranes nest close to water in shallow marshes or wet heathland and become very territorial during the breeding season. When nesting, they 'paint' their bodies with mud or decaying vegetation to blend in with their surroundings. The same nest site may be used over several years. Mum lays 2 eggs in May which are incubated by both parents for a month. Once hatched, the youngsters are looked after for a further 70 days before they can fly and will stay with mum and dad until the end of their first winter. The youngsters don't breed themselves until they are at least 3 years old. Every two years, before migration, the adults undergo a complete moult, remaining flightless for six weeks, until their new feathers grow.

Cranes were once so common in Britain that 204 were roasted at a banquet for the Archbishop of York in 1465. They became extinct but are making a comeback after a re-introduction programme. There are about 70 breeding pairs in Britain and another 200 overwinter here. The small numbers make them Amber Listed. The average Common Crane can live for 26 years. Their main threats are collisions with power lines or wind turbines and the drying out of their breeding wetlands for farming.

Their Latin name is 'grus grus' where 'grus' is Latin for 'crane'. English place names with the prefix 'cran' are derived from cranes. For example; the name of Cranfield in Bedfordshire derives from the Anglo-Saxon 'crane feld' - open country frequented by cranes. There are 15 species of cranes in the world.

Moorhen

Saltlane

Moorhen is a corruption of 'mere hen' and where there is fresh water you will find a Moorhen. They like reed beds, farm ponds, ditches, lakes, and reservoirs. The only areas they avoid are fast-flowing rivers or pools with little vegetation as skulking is their thing.

The Moorhen's back is black brown while their head and underparts are blue grey. They have a red frontal shield with a red and yellow bill (think red hen to distinguish it from a Coot). There is a ragged white line along the sides of the body and white under the tail. Their feet and legs are yellowy green. When swimming, they jerk their heads backwards and forwards, like it is a big effort (which it is as they don't have webbed feet), while constantly flicking their tails. They tend to run across the water when scared and use this technique to take off, though generally flying is not their thing. Their long legs stick out the back once airborne, which is not a good look. For a brief period, somewhere between June and August, they are flightless while they moult. Moorhens have a wide range of calls. The most familiar is a sharp "BRROOK!"

A lot of a Moorhen's time is spent among waterside plants and on the bank looking for food. They will eat berries, pond weed, snails, insects, small fish, and even the eggs of other birds.

Early spring, around March, the male Moorhen builds several display platforms on the water where he can show off to the girls. Once he has attracted a female, the happy couple will turn one of these platforms into a nest. The nest is made of dead reeds and other plant matter. Both proud parents incubate the 5-9 eggs which hatch after 21 days. Soon after hatching, the youngsters are moved to a brood nest to confuse any would be predators. At 25 days, the young Moorhens can look after themselves but continue to be pampered by mum and dad until they can fly at around 45 days. Even after this, youngsters from the early broods hang around to help out with later broods and can stay with the family for up to 3 months. Moorhens will usually have two or three broods in a season.

The Moorhen is resident with 240,000 pairs in Britain, which rises to 320,000 pairs in winter as birds from Northern Europe pop over to try out our weed. Moorhens need lots of bankside vegetation for food and cover, so making waterways tidy is not a great help to them. Their Latin name is 'gallinula chloropus' where 'gallinula' is Latin for 'small hen' and 'chloropus' is from the Greek 'khloros' meaning green or yellow and  'pous' for 'foot'. So we have 'small hen with yellow feet'. Other English local names include waterhen and swamp chicken. Not very nice names for the poor Moorhen.

Moorhen video courtesy of Avibirds.com

Coot

Saltlane

The Coot is the quarrelsome kickboxing champ of the water. They can be found on gravel pits, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa.

Coots are slate black with a white frontal shield on their head and white bill. They have grey legs with partly webbed toes for swimming and diving. They swim with a nodding head motion. In flight, there is a pale bar along the trailing edge of the wing, though it is hard to see. More obvious is their feet sticking a long way out at the back. The Coot is reluctant to fly and runs across the water surface, with much splashing, when taking off. They are flightless for a brief period from June to September when they moult. The Coot's call is the origin of the bird's name. It is a brief note, a little like a trumpet, that can sound "kroot!"

They often dive for food and feed on water snails, dragonflies, moths, beetles, aquatic vegetation and grass. They are a bit of an aquatic scavenger, picking up food disturbed by other birds.

Coots engage in territorial fights during the breeding season (which starts at the end of April), kickboxing and wing flapping against their opponents, often issuing a very percussive "poot!" They generally nest close to other Coots, which is one reason why all the fighting kicks off. Their nest is built among reeds or aquatic vegetation and is made of plant leaves and stems. The 6-10 eggs are looked after by both parents and hatch after 21 days. Mum looks after the newly hatched young for the first week while dad gets the food. The parents then divide the brood between them and feed the young for a further 30 days. The chicks are covered with a black down with orange-red bits on their head, looking like mini punk goths. The youngsters can fly after 55 days. Coot parents are generally pretty tough and can be a bit nasty to their chicks, even killing them, if food is short.

They are a sedentary resident in Britain with 30,000 breeding pairs spread mainly across lowland areas. Northern European birds boost numbers to 200,000 in the winter when they often gather in large flocks on lakes or reservoirs. They have benefitted from reservoir creation. The oldest ringed Coot lived to 18 years. Not bad for a feisty fighter. Their Latin name is 'fulica atra' where 'fulica' means 'coot' and 'atra' means 'black'. It sounds a bit like 'fully attack ya' - and kick your head in.