Rails, gallinules and coots | Rallidae

Rallen | Rálidos

The body is flattened from side to side, so that the bird squeezes through dense reed and sedge without setting the stems moving; the long toes spread its weight over floating leaves and soft mud, and in the swimming species the toes carry broad lobes that open at each stroke and fold shut again afterwards. They are reluctant to fly, and then only low and fluttering with the legs dangling, while many species do migrate long distances at night; on remote islands there are species that cannot fly at all. Their presence is almost always revealed by sound: a hard rattling cackle, a grunting moan or a whinnying series rising from the marsh after sunset and answered by the neighbours. The nest is a cup of stems bent over and woven together, often with a canopy of pulled-down leaves and a walkway down to the water. The clutch is large and the black downy chicks leave the nest after a day or two; they are then fed piece by piece by both parents for weeks, sometimes with young from an earlier brood helping out.