Scientific name: Porzana parva (Scopoli, 1769)
Bird group: Rails and Crakes
Field characters. 18-20 cm. Very similar to Baillon's Crake in appearance, voice, and habitat; both are much smaller than Spotted Crake. Male Little Crake differs from Baillon's in pale olive-brown upperparts without white stripes on wing-coverts, and in flanks being uniform grey without bars. Underparts slate-grey and undertail barred blackish and white, upperparts brownish with dark streaks in both Little Crake and Baillon's Crake. Female different from Baillon's in having some grey on the sides of the head, buff underparts, and white chin, and throat. Both sexes have green bill with reddish base; legs green. Juvenile like female but with face and underparts paler, breast and rear flanks barred whitish and brown.
Voice. Male gives a sharp "queck, queck, queck", usually gradually falling in pitch and accelerating to a kind of trill.
Distribution. Imperfectly known because of secretive habits; rare.
Habitat. Occurs in swamps, fens, reedbeds, wetlands, and flooded woodland, favouring presence of tall, emergent aquatic plants.
Food. Forages whilst swimming, taking prey from emergent vegetation. Diet consists of invertebrates (mainly insects) and seeds of aquatic plants.