Corncrake

Crex crex

Local, rare & scarce Summer migrant in Ireland & Northern Britain, mainly Scotland from April-September.

Winters in Africa.

Adults are brown-black in colour, streaked with buff or grey. The wing coverts are a distinctive chestnut colour with some white bars.

The face, neck and breast are blue-grey, apart from a pale brown streak from the base of the bill to behind the eye, the belly is white, and the flanks, and undertail are barred with chestnut and white.

Juveniles are like Adults in appearance, but has a yellow tone to its upperparts, and the grey of the underparts is replaced with buff-brown.

Chicks have black down, as with all rails. 

The call is a loud, repetitive, grating krek krek.