When most people hear the word birds they think of blue jays, red robins, owls, pigeons, or some other type of bird that is common in a town neighborhood or city. A lot of people probably don’t even know half the birds on Earth like the Gallicrex cinerea, also known as the water cock.

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The Gallicrex cinerea is in fact a very large bird. The males are known to be longer and weigh more than the female. The male can go up to 17 inches long, and weigh from about 476 grams to 650 grams. The females are 24 inches long and can weigh up to 298 grams to 434 grams. The males and females color are also different. The male is mainly black or gray plumage with green legs and a red bill. The young males are usually buff in color, but as they get older they start to darken. That’s how you know they are starting to mature. The females are dark brown above the bill and paler below the bill. The male and female do have three things in common; they both have short tails, long toes, and green legs. They also have this rail that is flattened laterally to allow an easier passageway through reeds or undergrowth.

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The Gallicrex cinerea usual breeding habitat is swamps or some marshy, watery location. Although, they do nest in a dry location with marsh vegetation. They do not give live birth, they lay eggs. Usually they will lay from about 3-6 eggs. Their breeding habitat and where they are usually found is South Asia from India Pakistan and Sri Lanka to South China, Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia. The reason they do good in their habitat is because of how their body is built. The have bodies in the formation to get through high reeds and they can get food and other supplies.

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The Gallicrex eats insects, small fish, and seeds. They hunt their food by sense of sight. They will sit in shallow water or mud waiting for their food to pass by them. They stick the bill down and eat their prey. The bird is usually very quiet and secretive but can at times be caught. These birds are actually very noisy especially at dusk or dawn. They have a loud gulping call. Their loud gulping calls can cause them to be seen out in the open and caught by their predators.

 

The watercocks population is going down. Not all of them have gone extinct. Although many theories say it will. Their population is in between critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable. Their population is shrinking. Mostly because of predators.

 

The watercock lives in swampy area. That means that many alligators would be around.  They are probably one their biggest predator. Alligators are also of the most slickest and quietest. They can creep through the water. Most of the time you would never even realize they are there because; they just sit still and blend in. They can camouflage themselves making themselves look like a log. They don’t change color like a chameleon but their color can make them blend in. Which means that the watercock could land on it thinking it’s a log and then. Well you get the point.

 

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