African Rail

The African rail (Rallus caerulescens) is a small wetland bird of the rail family that is found in eastern and southern Africa. Adults are 27–28 cm long, and have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, with black-and-white barring on the flanks and undertail. The sexes have similar plumage but the female is smaller. This is the only Rallus species with a plain back. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds. They have long toes, a short tail and a long slim dull red bill. The legs are red. Immature birds are similar to the adults, but the blue-grey is replaced by buff. They are noisy birds, with a trilled whistled treee-tee-tee-tee-tee call.