Corncrake

During a camping holiday in the Yorkshire Dales of Northern England, we heard a strange noise as twilight was starting to fall late most evenings (this was in mid-June). At first, we simply imagined that a fellow camper was blowing up an airbed using a pump of some kind, as there was a repeated sound that could have been somebody giving three quick pumps. But why only three, never more and never fewer?

No, this could not be a mechanical noise, but one coming from the open grazing land behind the campsite. On one or two occasions we could see a medium-sized bird walking quickly across the field, and could therefore identify it as the rarely seen corncrake.

Within the UK, the corncrake is most likely to be seen in western Scotland or Northern Ireland, so a sighting in North Yorkshire was unusual but not completely unexpected, this being one of the two areas of England where they are known to breed, the other being in Somerset.

The corncrake is a summer visitor to the UK, staying long enough to raise a brood before flying back to Africa for the winter. It used to be far more common than it is now, but loss of habitat and intensive farming methods have made it one of many bird species that have become limited to the wilder parts of the country. It is on the RSPB’s (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) red list of bird species under threat globally, and not just in the UK.

The Latin name of the corncrake is “Crex crex”, which is doubtless in imitation of its call which, airbeds apart, has been likened to the scraping of a comb along the edge of a matchbox. It is one of the “rail” family of birds, which includes moorhens and coots, but is entirely terrestrial.


Appearance

The rails are typified by being medium-sized (the corncrake is around 25-28 centimetres in length) and having a short tail and wings, and long legs and toes. The corncrake is notable for having a slimmer body than other rails, which was one reason for its name as it was able to move rapidly through cornfields in past times.

Male and female birds look similar, with yellow to buff underparts and brown, streaky upper bodies. Male birds can have a bluish or greyish tinge to the throat and face. The appearance changes after the late summer moult, with the yellowy colours taking over from the grey and blue ones. The wings are reddish-brown, being darker at the edges.


Breeding

On arrival in late spring or early summer, pairs are formed and nest sites prepared in open fields and meadows, usually towards the edges, or nettle patches. The nests are concealed from predators and lined with leaves or strands of hay. Clutches can range from six to eighteen eggs, which are incubated by both birds for around twenty days. If the first brood is early enough, a second may be attempted. The chicks are completely black at first. They leave the nest almost as soon as they hatch, following the parents and being fed by them on larvae, spiders, caterpillars and insects. When they start to feed for themselves they add seeds and worms to their diet.


Behaviour

Despite their ability to fly great distances during their annual migrations, corncrakes are not often seen in flight when in the UK, as they prefer to walk around their feeding grounds and keep low to the ground when they do fly. This is one reason why they are more often heard than seen, another being that they like to hide in tall vegetation whenever possible.

The last birds leave to fly south in early September, when most campers will also have put their airbeds away for the winter!

© John Welford