Birds of Importance around Lake Serpentine
Also known as the "Koitareke"
Where are they found?
The marsh crake inhabits both fresh and salt water swamps and also the marshy banks of rivers. It runs quickly among the vegetation and on floating raupo, typha muelleri. It swims well but seldom flies.
FACTS
- Little is known about the behaviour of this extremely shy and secretive rail, and nowhere in the world has the marsh crake been adequately studied.
- The Marsh Crake is only about 180 mm in size. Feeds on invertebrates, aquatic plant seeds and tiny fish.
- Six to ten cream-coloured eggs with a blue tint are laid between August and December. The female is the sole incubator for 26 days. The peculiar broad bill is predominant as soon as the chick is hatched.
- Pairs apparently remain on territory throughout the year, laying 5-7 eggs in Oct – Dec in a shallow dished platform made of short lengths of rushes or sedge. The nest is usually 30-40cm above the water. Both sexes incubate for 16-20 days.
- Few nests have ever been found and little information on breeding habits is available. The nest is described as being made of rushes and acquatic plants loosely woven together and concealed in rushes growing in shallow water. There are two entrances to the nest through the vegetation enclosing it.