斑胸田鸡种

分类

其学名来源于威尼斯语中对小型秧鸡的称呼。

描述

斑胸田鸡体长19—22.5 cm（7.5—8.9英寸），比西方秧鸡稍小，易于识别，因其喙短直，基部为红色，喙为黄色。成鸟的上部大多为棕色，胸部为蓝灰色，两侧有黑色斑纹和白色斑点。它们有绿色的长趾腿，尾巴短且下部为米黄色。

未成熟的斑胸田鸡与成鸟相似，但蓝灰色部分被棕色取代。刚孵出的幼鸟为黑色，与所有秧鸡一样。

唯一可能混淆的物种是索拉秧鸡，它是来自北美洲的罕见迷鸟。然而，索拉秧鸡缺乏胸部斑点，且头顶无斑纹条。

习性

斑胸田鸡的繁殖栖地是遍布于温带欧洲至西亚洲的沼泽和莎草床。它们在沼泽植物的干燥处筑巢，每窝产下6至15颗蛋。此物种为迁徙性鸟类，冬季迁往非洲和巴基斯坦。

这些鸟类用喙在泥土或浅水中探寻，也会靠视觉拾取食物。它们主要以昆虫和水生动物为食。

斑胸田鸡在繁殖季节非常隐秘，多为听到其声而非见其形。此时它们会发出具重复性、类似鞭声的独特叫声。它们在迁徙途中较易被观察到。

保护

斑胸田鸡是《非欧亚迁移性水鸟协定》涵盖的物种之一。西欧的种群数量近几十年来有所下降，如今在英国已成为非常稀有的繁殖鸟类。

The spotted crake (Porzana porzana) is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails.

The spotted crake's breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into western Asia. They nest in a dry location in marsh vegetation, laying 6–15 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in Africa and Pakistan.

At 19–22.5 cm (7.5–8.9 in) length, spotted crakes are slightly smaller than water rails, from which they are readily distinguished by the short straight bill, yellow with a red base. Adults have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey breast, with dark barring and white spots on the flanks. They have green legs with long toes, and a short tail which is buff underneath.

Immature spotted crakes are similar, but the blue-grey is replaced by brown. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.

One confusion species is the sora, a rare vagrant from North America. However, that species lacks the breast spotting and has an unstreaked crown stripe.

These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and aquatic animals.

Spotted crakes are very secretive in the breeding season, and are then mostly heard rather than seen. They are then noisy birds, with a distinctive repetitive whiplash-like hwuit, hwuit call. They can be easier to see on migration.

The spotted crake is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The Western European population has declined in recent decades, and the species is now a very rare breeding bird in Great Britain.