40 Tune Your Ear - Rails and Crakes
About this episode
Wetland birds are often heard long before they are seen. This Tune Your Ear episode helps you learn the calls of Australian rails and crakes, including Buff-banded Rail, Lewin’s Rail, Australian Spotted Crake and Spotless Crake.
Episode illustration: Buff-banded Rail
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Kirsty: I would like to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia and the owners of the world's oldest living cultures. I pay my respects to the Elders of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the Country on which this episode was recorded. I recognise the strength and resilience of Australia's First Peoples, despite past and present impacts of colonisation and dispossession.
Kirsty: Welcome to Weekend Birder, I'm Kirsty Costa. And if you are new here, this podcast shares stories, advice and the smarts of everyday birdwatchers. To finish off Season 1, we are learning about bird calls in a series called Tune Your Ear. So far we have listened to pardalotes, to lorikeets and to whistlers. And in this episode we are tuning our ears to what Matt Herring calls the 'sneaky water birds'.
Matt: These sneaky water birds, these cryptic ones that you more often hear rather than see. I think it's because so little is known about them, and some of them are among our most threatened birds. So there's that real need for research and for us to better understand what they need. It's also the challenge. They are so difficult to study. Some of them, it's hard enough to get a look at let alone learn about their breeding and their movement patterns and stuff like that. So the challenge is certainly part of it but they're just a wonderful group of birds and really quite diverse. You've got these tiny little Baillon's Crakes, the size of a small quail. Right up to large bitterns and some of the large rails. Somehow they can manage to be so sneaky despite being as big as a heron or an egret.
Kirsty: You can hear more from Matt in Episode 29. So in this episode, we're going to learn about the sneaky water birds known as the rails and the crakes. Rails and crakes are part of the Rallidae family, which also includes swamphens, native hens, moorhens and coots. These birds all have some things in common besides being sneaky. They can be found mainly in wetlands, they have rounded bodies, they have legs and feet that enable them to walk on reeds and other grasses, and they can make really loud noises if they need to. Australia has three rail species and we're going to start with the Buff-banded Rail. This stunner of a bird is widespread in mainland Australia, especially along the eastern coast and the islands. It is about 31cm long and it's got short legs. The band on the Buff-banded Rail is an orangey browny colour and this band is splashed across its chest. You will notice that it has a grey eyebrow and chestnut-coloured cheeks. It has a chestnut neck and lore, which we've learnt in last episode is the area between its eye and its bill. Its chin and its throat are grey and its head is brown. And the rest of its feathers are pretty much black and white bars. You will notice that this is a feature in a lot of the birds we're going to explore in this episode. Early in the morning or late in the day is when you might see it sticking its head out of reeds to eat crustaceans, molluscs, insects, seeds, fruit and small frogs. This recording of a Buff-banded Rail is by Richard Boon in the Melbourne suburb of Viewbank on Wurundjeri Country.
<Recording of Buff-banded Rail>
Kirsty: Like other birds, rails and crakes make different sounds depending on what they're communicating. Richard thinks that he was hearing what was possibly an alarm call. So let's listen to another Buff-banded Rail, this time recorded by Greg McLaughlan in Centennial Park in Sydney on Gadigal Country. This Rail is making the species' most common call, which is a high pitched "seeep".
<Recording of Buff-banded Rail>
Kirsty: Did you notice how different the calls were? We're really levelling up our skills in this episode and even expert bird watchers have told me that this is one of the hardest categories to tune your ear to. So well done to you and for giving it a crack! Hanging out in some of the same habitats as the Buff-banded Rail is the Lew-in's Rail (or Lewin's Rail? I don't know. Someone correct me on social media). The Lewin's Rail can be found in coastal wetlands, wet heath and salt marshes in southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. At the time of recording, this sneaky waterbird is still to be added to my Lifer List, which is the list of birds that I've seen so far. I hear it's smaller than you might think, only 23cm in length. It has the same black and white feathers that look like bars on its body, but it has some different features to the Buff-banded Rail. For example, it doesn't have that band across its chest, its bill is longer and it has a rufous crown (which we learnt in the last episode is a rusty-orange coloured head). The Lewin's Rail is more heard than seen. This series of recordings is by Ramit Singal in Rosevears in Tasmania near Launceston, on the Country of the Palawa people. Listen out for its "kek kek kek" call as well as some low growling and drumming calls.
<Recording of Lewin's Rail>
Kirsty: I don't know about you, but those sounds really made me chuckle. Birds are the best. The final Australian rail that we're going to tune our ear to is the Chestnut Rail. This bird lives in the coastal mangroves, mudflats and tidal creeks of northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and a teeny tiny chunk of Queensland. It is the largest of the rails at 48cm long. It has a chestnut brown body and a grey head. Interestingly, the birds that live in the Kimberley have olive feathers on the upper parts of their bodies. The Chestnut Rail has a deep drumming call that sounds a bit like "bloop", and this is followed by a loud and repeated "whack whack whack". This recording is by Bram Demeulemeester in a mangrove area near Darwin on Larrakia Country.
<Recording of Chestnut Rail>
Kirsty: In Episode 12, Peter Murphy shared what he knew about the importance of Australia's wetlands.
Peter: Wetlands are the link between the land and the sea, and they're flood mitigation. So they're good for all our communities because they soak up all the heavy rainfall events and then gradually disperse it, you know, in a calm fashion rather than flooding streets and houses. So we need them and we need them for biodiversity. Wetlands and their buffer zones provide important habitat for a number of fauna, including birds, frogs, possums, reptiles, water rats, bats, Galaxias Fish and macroinvertebrates. For waterbirds, wetlands are crucial because they feed and breed in water. These wetlands are an internationally significant habitat for a wide variety of bird life - about 120 species, including a number of rare and endangered migratory waterbirds from as far afield as Siberia.
Kirsty: Rails and crakes are very dependent on Australia's wetlands because they are mainly sedentary, except for the Baillon's Crake. In the birdwatching world, 'sedentary' means that the birds don't travel very far and they tend to stay in the same area. This makes rails and crakes different to some of the other migratory birds that also rely on wetlands. We've just listened to Australia's rails and now it's time to focus on five types of crakes in general. Crakes look a bit like rails, but they tend to be smaller and they've got shorter bills. The Australian Spotted Crake is also known as the Australian Crake or the Water Crake. It is widespread in New South Wales, north-eastern South Australia and south-west Western Australia and also can be found in the Kimberleys. It is uncommon in Queensland and Tasmania. You will find it along the edges of wetlands hiding in plants like saltbush reeds, rushes, mangroves and thick grass. The Australian Spotted Crake has dark grey feathers on its face, forehead, throat and chest. The crown of its head, the back of its neck and the upper parts of its body are all brownish olive and it has these very cute little white spots over it. Its lower body has these black and white barred feathers and under its tail is white. It turns out that looking under the tail of most of rails and crakes will help you work out what they are. It has a yellow green bill with an orange red patch just above its bill. This recording is by Richard Boon in Geelong in Victoria on Wadawurrung Country. Up to three birds can't be seen, but they're calling from within the reeds of a drainage canal. Listen out for the "eep eep" and a weird hyena-like chuckle, which is its territorial call.
<Recording of Australian Spotted Crake>
Kirsty: The Baillon's Crake is the smallest of the crakes with a length of about 16cm. It is found across the world in places like Africa, Europe, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand during the warmer months in Australia. This bird breeds in the wetlands and the freshwater habitats of southern and eastern Australia. And then as the weather cools and resources become a bit scarce, it migrates northward and often travels thousands of kilometres to reach northern and north-western Australia. The Baillon's Crake has a red eye, a yellow green bill and a mostly pale blue grey face and breast. It has ginger brown on its back and like the Spotted Crake, it's got black and white barred feathers on the lower parts of its body and also under its tail. You will find it in mostly freshwater wetlands and you're more likely to hear it than see it. Listen out for the loud, sharp call as well as "chuck" or "krek" alarm calls. This recording is by Dan Lane in Pukaki on New Zealand's South Island on the land of the Maori people. "Kia ora" to our friends in New Zealand.
<Recording of Baillon's Crake>
Kirsty: Like other rails and crakes, the Red-necked Crake uses its strong legs and large feet to walk through the dense reeds and grasses found along the edges of a wetland and water bodies located in a rainforest. It is non-migratory and it lives in tropical northern Queensland. It does indeed have a reddish-brown neck as well as a reddish brown head and breast. It has a pale yellow bill and it also lacks the black and white barred feathers that I've mentioned that you see on other rails and crakes. The Red-necked Crake can be heard emitting a series of calls, including a distinctive whistling sound that is used to mark its territory. This recording is by Phil Gregory in Kuranda, which is a rainforest area near Cairns and Palm Cove on Djabugay Country. It's the wet season and two crakes are about 30m apart and calling to each other at dusk.
<Recording of Red-necked Crakes>
Kirsty: Some rails and crakes nest in a clump of rushes, grass, low shrubs or water lilies. Some also nest in overhanging tree branches or on the ground. The nest itself can vary from a flat, flimsy structure to a cup of fine woven material with a dome or with rushes interlaced over the nest. Rails and crakes tend to line their nests with soft grass. In Episode 27, artist Zora Verona reminded us about how incredible bird nest building really is.
Zora Verona: I find it really amazing and remarkable how they build such intricate structures using just their beak and their breasts. And I struggle to do what they do using my hands. So I have a couple of different needles at home and I call those my 'bird beaks'. And I love to reflect on the fact that our earliest needles were actually made of bones and the very oldest needle that they found in an archaeological dig in a Siberian cave 50,000 years old. They feel that that needle was made from the bone of a bird. So once again, I think we take our inspiration from the birds in the techniques that we lay claim to in art and craft. So, yeah, I just find them extraordinary. And the correlations, you know, I think that's the more I learned about birds and how they made their nest, the more I realized how much correlation there is between our art and craft practices and the birds. Birds are the most incredible creatures, and I don't know whether we always give them the credit that they deserve. You know, we have these expressions like bird brain, but yet there are so many art and craft traditions that we lay claim to that really could have been inspired by birds.
Kirsty: The Spotless Crake breeds from August to January. It hides its nest, which looks a bit like a bowl of reed stems, leaves and grass in dense wetland plants near the water's edge. What is really cool is that it actually creates its own nest ramp, which is quite common with rails and crakes. This is a path of trampled plants that slopes down to the water. Both the male and the female share the incubation of their 3 to 6 eggs, and it takes about 19 to 22 days. This type of crake is called 'Spotless' because it kind of looks like the Australian Spotted Crake, but it's smaller and it's got this dark brown back, blue-black underbody, black bill and red eye. If you ever get a chance to see one, you'll see that under its tail has white sides and black in the center. This recording of a Spotless Crake is by Nigel Jackett in Herdsman in Western Australia on Whadjuk Country. Listen out for its "chuck" call.
<Recording of Spotless Crake>
Kirsty: The Spotless Crake also makes a fast "chuck chuck chuck chuck" call and a whistling call. And it makes what can only be called as a bubbling call as heard in this recording by John Graff at Kulunilup Swamp on the Country of the Nyoongar people in Western Australia.
<Recording of Spotless Crake>
Kirsty: That sound also made me giggle. Birds are so funny! Okay, friends, we're heading back to the wetlands of the Top End of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland for our final crake of the episode, the White-browed Crake. Unlike other secretive crakes, the White-browed Crake likes to use its very long toes to walk across lily pads and other floating plants. It has a red eye that is in between two diagonal white lines, one that looks like a white brow. It is mainly covered in dark brown feathers, with its chin and breast a pale grey colour. In this recording by Marc Anderson in Georgetown Queensland on Ewamian Country, you will hear the crake's "kiak kiak kiak" call. Sometimes it also makes a "chicka chicka" call and a soft "charrrr-ar charrrr-ar" call. Personally, I think this recording sounds a bit like a squeaky toy.
<Recording of White-browed Crake>
Kirsty: You have tuned your ear to Australia's four rails and five creeks. What a delightful listen! If you would like to get out there and see if you can see them or hear them, the best time is dawn, dusk or an overcast cloudy day. Here's a fun fact: the earliest rail fossils have revealed their ancestors lived in the lower Eocene period about 50 million years ago. And the Rallidae family may actually have existed earlier than this, maybe even 86 million years ago. Rails and crakes, you have my respect! Many thanks to all the great humans who uploaded and gave permission to share recordings on the Xeno-canto website. As always, you will find links to more info in the show notes. Did you know that transcriptions are also available? Visit the Weekend Birder website if you would like to read what you have just heard.
