[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":277},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye":132,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":133,"section-listing:disabled":270,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye|\u002Fopredelitel":271},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":92,"description":93,"extension":94,"faq":95,"imagePrompt":105,"latinName":20,"meta":106,"navigation":107,"order":108,"pageType":109,"path":110,"publishedAt":111,"readingMinutes":112,"relatedLinks":113,"seo":126,"sitemap":129,"stem":130,"taxonRank":109,"updatedAt":108,"__hash__":131},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.md","Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":84},"minimark",[9,14,22,25,29,32,35,39,69,73],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-rallidae-a-family","What makes Rallidae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Rallidae",", the rail family, comprises around 150 species worldwide, including rails, crakes, gallinules, moorhens, and coots. The family's defining physical trait is a body laterally compressed from side to side — the source of the saying \"thin as a rail\" — allowing most species to slip easily through dense stands of reed, sedge, or long grass that would obstruct a more conventionally rounded waterbird. Wings are typically short and rounded, giving many species a weak, fluttering flight despite some undertaking substantial long-distance migrations.",[15,23,24],{},"Diet across the family is broadly omnivorous, including aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, plant material, seeds, and occasionally small vertebrates, with the precise balance varying considerably between the family's more wetland-bound species and its handful of dry-grassland specialists.",[10,26,28],{"id":27},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,30,31],{},"Most Rallidae species are highly secretive, spending the overwhelming majority of their time concealed within dense vegetation and relying on distinctive, often loud or harsh calls rather than visual display to communicate, making voice the primary means of detecting many species in the field. The Eurasian coot stands out as a partial exception, spending much of its time on open water and displaying bold, aggressive territorial behavior rather than the skulking habits typical of the wider family.",[15,33,34],{},"Toe structure varies meaningfully across the family: coots have distinctive lobed toes that aid swimming and walking across soft mud, while most rails and crakes have long, slender, unlobed toes suited to walking across floating vegetation and dense marsh growth rather than swimming.",[10,36,38],{"id":37},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,40,41,42,47,48,52,53,47,57,60,61,47,65,68],{},"This atlas currently covers three members of Rallidae: the ",[43,44,46],"a",{"href":45},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Flysukha","Eurasian coot"," (",[49,50,51],"em",{},"Fulica atra","), a bold, aggressive, and highly visible species recognized by its all-black plumage and white bill and frontal shield, often forming large flocks on open water outside the breeding season; the ",[43,54,56],{"href":55},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fkorostel","corncrake",[49,58,59],{},"Crex crex","), a notably secretive dry-grassland specialist known for its rasping, far-carrying \"crex-crex\" call and its status as a species of serious international conservation concern; and the ",[43,62,64],{"href":63},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fkamyshnitsa","common moorhen",[49,66,67],{},"Gallinula chloropus","), a more retiring relative of the coot recognized by its red frontal shield and white flank stripe, typically found skulking along reed-fringed pond and lake margins. Further Rallidae species will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,70,72],{"id":71},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,74,75,76,79,80,83],{},"Wetland-associated rails, moorhens, and coots are best looked for along reed-fringed lake and pond margins, with coots often the most conspicuous, forming visible rafts on open water outside the breeding season from ",[18,77,78],{},"autumn through winter",". The corncrake is a very different proposition, best listened for at night in hay meadows and rough grassland during ",[18,81,82],{},"May and June",", when males call persistently to establish territory, since the species is rarely seen well even where present. Spring and early summer generally offer the best chance of detecting the family's more secretive members, as breeding activity brings increased calling even from species that remain almost entirely hidden the rest of the year.",{"title":85,"searchDepth":86,"depth":86,"links":87},"",2,[88,89,90,91],{"id":12,"depth":86,"text":13},{"id":27,"depth":86,"text":28},{"id":37,"depth":86,"text":38},{"id":71,"depth":86,"text":72},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","md",[96,99,102],{"q":97,"a":98},"Why do rail family birds have such a distinctive narrow body shape?","Most Rallidae species have bodies laterally compressed from side to side, an adaptation — often summarized in the saying 'thin as a rail' — that lets them slip easily between closely spaced reed and marsh vegetation stems, moving through dense wetland cover that would obstruct a bird with a more rounded, duck-like body profile.",{"q":100,"a":101},"Is the corncrake really a member of the same family as the coot, despite living in dry meadows?","Yes — the corncrake is an unusual exception within Rallidae, having largely abandoned the wetland habitat typical of the family in favor of dry grassland and hay meadows, but it retains the family's characteristic laterally compressed body, skulking habits, and preference for staying hidden in dense vegetation rather than in open water.",{"q":103,"a":104},"Why are rails often heard rather than seen?","Most Rallidae species are notably secretive, spending the great majority of their time deep within dense reed beds or thick grass rather than out in the open, and rely on loud, often harsh or rhythmic calls to communicate and establish territory, making voice a far more reliable way to detect most rail species than a direct sighting.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a Eurasian coot swimming aggressively toward the camera across open water with a white frontal shield and black plumage, a common moorhen with a red frontal shield picking its way along a reed margin in the background, sharp focus on the coot's red eye, soft-focus background of a reed-fringed lake in golden late-afternoon light, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","17.08.2026",1,[114,118,122],{"label":115,"path":116,"description":117},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":119,"path":120,"description":121},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","Another wetland family often sharing the same reed beds and lake margins",{"label":123,"path":124,"description":125},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":127,"description":128},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae) — traits and species","Rallidae, the rail family: marsh specialists from the secretive corncrake to the bold Eurasian coot. Traits, species, and where to find them.",{"loc":110},"semeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","fRlhJsJH9g2iOZ27Cayvpl_XyaVszNN_hH3u25lisjw",{"ru":107,"es":107},[134,140,145,150,155,160,164,169,174,179,184,189,194,199,204,209,214,215,220,225,230,235,240,245,250,255,260,265],{"title":135,"description":136,"path":137,"coverImage":138,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png","13.07.2026",{"title":141,"description":142,"path":143,"coverImage":144,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":146,"description":147,"path":148,"coverImage":149,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":151,"description":152,"path":153,"coverImage":154,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":156,"description":157,"path":158,"coverImage":159,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":119,"description":161,"path":120,"coverImage":162,"publishedAt":163,"order":108},"The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":165,"description":166,"path":167,"coverImage":168,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":170,"description":171,"path":172,"coverImage":173,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":175,"description":176,"path":177,"coverImage":178,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Herons (Ardeidae)","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":180,"description":181,"path":182,"coverImage":183,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":185,"description":186,"path":187,"coverImage":188,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":190,"description":191,"path":192,"coverImage":193,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":195,"description":196,"path":197,"coverImage":198,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":200,"description":201,"path":202,"coverImage":203,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":205,"description":206,"path":207,"coverImage":208,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":210,"description":211,"path":212,"coverImage":213,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":5,"description":93,"path":110,"coverImage":92,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},{"title":216,"description":217,"path":218,"coverImage":219,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":221,"description":222,"path":223,"coverImage":224,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":226,"description":227,"path":228,"coverImage":229,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":231,"description":232,"path":233,"coverImage":234,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":236,"description":237,"path":238,"coverImage":239,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":241,"description":242,"path":243,"coverImage":244,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":246,"description":247,"path":248,"coverImage":249,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":251,"description":252,"path":253,"coverImage":254,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":256,"description":257,"path":258,"coverImage":259,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":261,"description":262,"path":263,"coverImage":264,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":266,"description":267,"path":268,"coverImage":269,"publishedAt":139,"order":108},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[],[272,274,275],{"label":115,"path":116,"description":117,"coverImage":273},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":119,"path":120,"description":121,"coverImage":162},{"label":123,"path":124,"description":125,"coverImage":276},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114561702]