''Porzana pusilla affinis'' is a subspecies of

Baillon's crake Baillon's crake (''Zapornia pusilla''), also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Distribution Their breeding habitat is Cyperaceae, sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across the Palearctic. They used ...

endemic to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is also called the marsh crake in English or koitareke in Maori.

Description

The marsh crake is about half the size of a

common blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird where this does not ...

, measuring about in length and weighing . It has a short tail and long legs. It is known for its dramatic plumage: the feathers on its back are deep brown with black and white marks. The feathers on its belly are grey and white. Its eyes are bright red. Its beak and legs are green. Young birds have brown bellies instead of grey and white.

Habitat and distribution

Marsh crakes live in wetlands and in reedy estuaries. They can live on flooded

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

forests as well. The species occurs in both the North and South island of New Zealand, but appears to be more numerous in the latter. It is unclear whether the species migrates.

Diet

The marsh crake eats

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

and the seeds of water plants. Because of their food requirements, scientists consider them an indicator of wetland health.

Breeding

Marsh crakes form

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

pairs to lay eggs. The males fly courtship flights to impress the females. They build nests out of dry plants and hide them in

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

. The female lays 5-7 eggs per

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

. Both the male and female crake incubate the eggs. The eggs take 16–20 days to hatch. The chicks have black and brown feathers.

Threats

The population of marsh crake is declining because human beings drain their marshes.

Introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

such as cats, dogs,

mustelids The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest famil ...

, and

rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

can kill the adult birds, eggs, and chicks. Less often, a marsh crake will be hit by a car or fly into a power line. If human beings make too much noise near a nest, the parent birds may flee, leaving the eggs to die.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27606989 Birds of New Zealand Zapornia Endemic birds of New Zealand