The watercock (''Gallicrex cinerea'') is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Gallicrex''.

Taxonomy

The watercock was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich GmelinFerdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctora ...

in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. He placed it with the coots in the genus '' Fulica'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Fulica cinerea''. Gmelin based his description on the "crested gallinule" from China that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. The watercock is now the only species placed in the genus ''Gallicrex'' that was introduced in 1852 by

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the museum of the Asiatic Society of India in Calcutta. Blyth was born in London in 1810. In 1841 ...

. The genus name combines the genus '' Gallus'' with the genus ''

Crex Citicorp Railmark Inc. (trading as Citirail Express) is a company that leases locomotives to railroads as needed. The company is a subsidiary of Citibank, which itself is a division of Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), s ...

''. The specific epithet ''cinerea'' is from the Latin ''cinereus'' meaning "ash-grey". The species is monotypic: no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised. Traditionally held to be closely related to moorhens (which the adult male visually closely resembles), it is actually a member of a mostly tropical Asian

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

containing also ''

Aenigmatolimnas The striped crake (''Aenigmatolimnas marginalis'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Aenigmatolimnas'', having formerly been included in ''Porzana'' or in the defunct genus ''Poliolimnas''. Its pr ...

Amaurornis ''Amaurornis'' is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. The species in this genus are typically called bush-hens. A monotypic subtribe, Amaurornithina, was proposed for this genus. Taxonomy The genus ''Amaurornis'' was erected by the Ge ...

Himantornis The Nkulengu rail (''Himantornis haematopus'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Himantornis''. For long, this singular rail was considered a member of a distinct subfamily Himantornithinae. This wa ...

'' and ''

Megacrex The New Guinea flightless rail (''Megacrex inepta''), also known as the Papuan flightless rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae, in the monotypic genus ''Megacrex''. Sometimes however, it was included in ''Amaurornis'' or ''Habroptila ...

''.

Description

Adult male watercocks are long and weigh .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . They have mainly black-grey plumage with red legs,

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, extended frontal shield and horn. Young males are buff in colour, darkening as they mature. Their bill is yellow and their legs are green. Female birds are

smaller Smaller were an English alternative rock, Britpop band from Liverpool, active during the 1990s. They had hits with "Wasted" and "Is" in 1996 and 1997. History The band was formed in the early 1990s by former Cook da Books guitarist/singer Pet ...

at and . They are dark brown above and paler below. Their

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is streaked and barred with darker markings. The bill is yellow and the legs are green. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The body of this rail is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds or undergrowth. It has long toes and a short tail. Watercock are quite secretive, but are sometimes seen out in the open. They are noisy birds, especially at dawn and dusk, with a loud, gulping call.

Distribution and habitat

Their breeding habitat is

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s across south Asia from India, Pakistan, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to south

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Korea,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Philippines and Indonesia. These large rails are mainly permanent residents throughout their

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

They nest in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 3-6

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

Food and feeding

These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and small fish and seeds. They forage on the ground.

Gallery

File:Water Cock in flight.jpg, Watercock in flight File:Water Cock SJ.jpg, Watercock - rear view

References

* ''Birds of India'' by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, {{Taxonbar, from=Q494424 Rallidae Birds of East Asia Birds of South Asia Birds of Southeast Asia Birds described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin