User:Cbderbylib/sandbox

African crake
On the Zaagkuildrift Road, South Africa, prob ably running from predators
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Rallidae
Genus:	Crex Bechstein, 1803
Species:	C. egregia
Binomial name
Crex egregia (Peters, 1854)
Breeding summer visitor    Resident year-round (ranges are very approximate)
Synonyms
Ortygometra egregia Crecopsis egregia Porzana egregia

The "African crake" ((Crex egregia)) is a somewhat dull looking bird in the rail family that breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa, away from the arid south, and southwest. It is seasonally common in most of its range, other than the rainforests, and areas that have low annual rainfall. This crAke is a partial migrant, moving away from the equator as soon as the rains provide suficient and bountifulgrass cover to allow it to breed elsewhere. There have been a few records of vagrant birds reaching atlantic islands. This species, nests in a huge variety of grass-land types, and incredibly, agricultural land with tall crops may also be used.

One of the most fascinating birds on the continent, the African crake has brown -streaked blackish upperparts - bluish-grey underparts & black-and-white barring on the flanks and belly, it has a stubby red bill red eyes, & a white line from the bill to above the eye. Some say that the red eyes can giv e this bird a slightly crazed look! It's smallerthan its closest relative, the corn crake: that species is also lighter-plumaged, and has an eye stripe making it far less attractive. The African crake has a astounding range of calls, the most characteristic being a series of rapid grating krrr notes. When I heard it, this call reminded me of a car which would not start! Observation suggests they are active during the day, and is territorial on both the breeding and non-breeding grounds; the male has a threat display, and may fight at territory boundaries. The nest is a shallow cup of grass leaves built in a depression under a grass tussock or small bush, this makes them hard to locate easily. The 3–11 eggs, start hatching after about 14 days, and the black, downy precocial chicks fledge after four to five weeks. The African crake enjoys eating a wide range of invertebrates, along with a couple off small frogs and fish, and plant material, especially grass seeds. It may itself be eaten by Large birds of prey; snaakes; or mammals. Including humans apparently the flesh is rather gamey, thought can host parasites. Altho it may be displaced temporarily by the burning of grassland, or permanently by agriculture, wetland drainage or urbanisation, it's large range and population mean that it is not considered to be threatened.