Status in UK:
(A) Migrant Breeder, Passage Visitor
Subspecies:
Monotypic
.
Length:
28 cm
Wingspan:
50 cm
Weight:
M: 170 g F: 140 g
Scientific name from:
Gr.: krex=a long-legged bird mentioned by Herodotus, Aristotle and other
World Distribution:
BREEDS: Europe, n&c Asia, WINTERS: s Europe to s Africa
Habitat:
Grassland, riparian thickets
Diet:
Mostly small inverebrates, also some seeds, from ground or off plants
TitBit:
This brown, chicken-sized bird, prefers to run when threatened with danger - so it is best to harvest hay fields (where it nests) from the inside out, giving it somewhere to escape to
First Record:
11th Century
[Fossil evidence from
early Holocene, up to 10,000 yr ago]
Latest Survey:
O'Brien, M. et al. (2006) Bird Study 53:213-224
Conservation Status: RED
because
Historical Population Decline,
Recent Breeding Population Decline (1969-2007),
Recent Breeding Range Decline (1969-2007)
Previous Assessments:
2002-2007
RED
1996-2001
RED
Races of Concern:
UK Biodiversity Action Plan
(Lead Partner: RSPB)
Habitat Occupancy (in the Breeding Season):
No habitat data from BBS
European Population Size:
Summer:
300 to 500 thousand pairs
Population Assesment from Birds in Europe
Distribution in Europe
European Species Action Plan
Listed on the Appendices/Schedules of:
WCA(I), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II)
Survey Results:
Breeding and Survival
Egg Size:
37 x 26 mm
Egg Weight:
13.2 g (of which 7 % is shell)
Number of Nest Records:
0
Clutch Size:
8 - 12 eggs
9.70 ± . (6 - 14) N = .
Incubation:
16- 19 days
18.60 ± . (. - .) N = .
by the:
Female
Fledging:
34 - 38days
11.60 ± . (. - .) N = .
as:
Precocial, downy
Source:
Schaffer, N. & Koffibjerg, K. (2004) BWP Update 6:55-76
These data should be cited as: Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland (v1.24, June 2009). BTO Research Report 407, BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts)
button; for sources point at the 
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Other Names
