View source for Corn crake

{{Short description|Species of bird found in Europe, Asia and Africa}}
{{hatnote group|
{{Redirect|Landrail|ships with that name|HMS Landrail}}
{{redirect|Crex|the railroad company|Citicorp Railmark Inc. (Citirail)}}
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{{Featured article}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Corn crake
| image = Ruisrääkkä.JPG
| image_alt = Brown bird with gray face and red legs facing left whilst walking amidst short flowering grasses toward a thicker patch of rough grasses
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name= "iucn status 19 November 2021" >{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Crex crex'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22692543A86147127 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692543A86147127.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Crex
| parent_authority = [[Johann Matthäus Bechstein|Bechstein]], 1803
| species = crex
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = *''Rallus crex'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
*''Crex pratensis'' {{small|Bechstein,&nbsp;1803}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name= "Stone1894" />
| range_map = CrexCrex2019 3.png
| range_map_alt = Map showing the breeding regions of ''Crex crex'' (most of Europe and South-Siberian Russia up to Mongolia), and their winter migration region (South-West Africa).
| range_map_caption = Range of ''C. crex'' {{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#FFFF00|Extant & Reintroduced (breeding)|outline=gray}}
}}

The '''corn crake''', '''corncrake''' or '''landrail''' ('''''Crex crex''''') is a bird in the [[Rallidae|rail family]]. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and [[bird migration|migrates]] to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's [[winter]]. It is a medium-sized [[crake]] with [[Buff (colour)|buff]]- or grey-streaked brownish-black upperparts, [[chestnut (color)|chestnut]] markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail. The strong [[beak|bill]] is flesh-toned, the [[Iris (anatomy)|iris]] is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Juveniles are similar in [[plumage]] to adults, and [[down feather|downy]] chicks are black, as with all rails. There are no [[subspecies]], although individuals from the east of the breeding range tend to be slightly paler than their western counterparts. The male's call is a loud ''krek krek'', from which the scientific name is derived. The corn crake is larger than its closest relative, the [[African crake]], which shares its wintering range; that species is also darker-plumaged, and has a plainer face.

The corn crake's breeding [[habitat]] is grassland, particularly [[hay]]fields, and it uses similar environments on the wintering grounds. This secretive species builds a nest of grass leaves in a hollow in the ground and lays 6–14 cream-coloured eggs which are covered with [[rufous]] blotches. These hatch in 19–20 days, and the black [[precocial]] chicks [[fledge]] after about five weeks. This crake is in steep decline across much of its former breeding range because modern farming practices often destroy nests before breeding is completed. The corn crake is [[omnivorous]] but mainly feeds on [[invertebrate]]s, the occasional small frog or mammal, and plant material including grass seed and cereal grain. Threats include dogs, cats, other [[introduced species|introduced]] and feral mammals, large birds, various [[Parasitism|parasite]]s and [[disease]]s.

Although numbers have declined steeply in western Europe, this bird is classed as [[least concern]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] because of its huge range and large, apparently stable, populations in Russia and [[Kazakhstan]].<ref name= "iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Numbers in western China are more significant than previously thought, and [[Conservation biology|conservation]] measures have facilitated an increased population in some countries which had suffered the greatest losses. Despite its elusive nature, the loud call has ensured the corn crake has been noted in literature, and garnered a range of local and dialect names.

==Taxonomy==
The [[Rallidae|rails]] are a bird [[family (biology)|family]] comprising nearly 150 species. Although the origins of the group are lost in antiquity, the largest number of species and least specialised forms are found in the [[Old World]], suggesting this family originated there. The [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of the small crakes is complicated, but the closest relative of the corn crake is the African crake, which has been given its own genus, ''Crecopsis''.<ref name= "taylor29" /><ref name= "Livezey1" />

Corn crakes were first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']] as ''Rallus crex'',<ref name= "Linnaeus1758" /> but was subsequently moved to the genus ''[[Crex]]'', created by German naturalist and ornithologist [[Johann Matthäus Bechstein]] in 1803, and named ''Crex pratensis''.<ref name= "bechstein" /> The earlier use of ''crex'' gives it [[Principle of Priority|priority]] over Bechstein's [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''pratensis'', and leads to the current name of ''Crex crex''.<ref name= "Sclater1896" /> The binomial name, ''Crex crex'', from the [[ancient Greek]] "κρεξ", is [[onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]], referring to the crake's repetitive grating call.<ref name= "wood" /><ref name= "Smith" /> The common name was formerly spelt as a single word, "corncrake", but the official version is now "corn crake". The English names refer to the species' habit of nesting in dry hay or cereal fields, rather than marshes used by most members of this family.<ref name= "ioc" />

==Description==
The corn crake is a medium-sized rail, {{convert|27|–|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with a wingspan of {{convert|42|–|53|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Males weigh {{convert|165|g|oz|abbr=on}} on average and females {{convert|145|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The adult male has the crown of its head and all of its upperparts brown-black in colour, streaked with buff or grey. The wing [[covert feather|coverts]] are a distinctive chestnut colour with some white bars. The face, neck and breast are blue-grey, apart from a pale brown streak from the base of the bill to behind the eye, the belly is white, and the flanks, and undertail are barred with chestnut and white. The strong bill is flesh-coloured, the iris is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Compared to the male, the female has warmer-toned upperparts and a narrower duller eye streak. Outside the breeding season, the upperparts of both sexes become darker and the underparts less grey. The juvenile is like the adult in appearance, but has a yellow tone to its upperparts, and the grey of the underparts is replaced with buff-brown. The chicks have black down, as with all rails. While there are no [[subspecies]], all populations show great individual variation in colouring, and the birds [[cline (biology)|gradually]] become paler and greyer towards the east of the range. Adults undergo a complete [[moulting|moult]] after breeding, which is normally finished by late August or early September, before migration to south eastern Africa. There is a pre-breeding partial moult prior to the return from Africa, mainly involving the plumage of the head, body and tail. Young birds have a head and body moult about five weeks after hatching.<ref name= "taylor320" />

The corn crake is [[sympatry|sympatric]] with the African crake on the wintering grounds, but can be distinguished by its larger size, paler upperparts, [[tawny (color)|tawny]] upperwing and different underparts pattern. In flight, it has longer, less rounded wings, and shallower wingbeats than its African relative, and shows a white leading edge to the inner wing. In both the breeding and wintering ranges it is unlikely to be confused with any other rails, since sympatric species are smaller, with white markings on the upperparts, different underparts patterns and shorter bills. A flying corn crake can resemble a [[game (food)|gamebird]], but its chestnut wing pattern and dangling legs are diagnostic.<ref name= "taylor320" />

===Voice===
{{listen|filename=Crex crex, July 2010.ogg|title=Corn crake|pos=right|description=Male's advertising call}}
On the breeding grounds, the male corn crake's advertising call is a loud, repetitive, grating ''{{not a typo|krek krek}}'' normally delivered from a low perch with the bird's head and neck almost vertical and its bill wide open. The call can be heard from {{convert|1.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} away, and serves to establish the breeding territory, attract females, and challenge intruding males. Slight differences in vocalisations mean that individual males can be distinguished by their calls. Early in the season, the call is given almost continuously at night, and often during the day, too.<ref name= "taylor320" /> It may be repeated more than 20,000 times a night, with a peak between midnight and 3&nbsp;am.<ref name= "cocker" /> The call has [[sexual selection|evolved]] to make a singing male's location clear, as this species hides in vegetation.<ref name= "Osiejuk" /> The frequency of calling reduces after a few weeks but may intensify again near the end of the laying period before falling away towards the end of the breeding season. To attract males, mechanical imitations of their call can be produced by rubbing two pieces of wood or ribs, one of them with notches,<ref name= "Boswall" /> or by flicking a credit card against a comb or [[zipper|zip-fastener]].<ref name= "cocker" /><ref name= "Mason" /> The male also has a growling call, given with the bill shut and used during aggressive interactions.<ref name= "taylor320" />

The female corn crake may give a call that is similar to that of the male; it also has a distinctive barking sound, similar in rhythm to the main call but without the grating quality.<ref name= "Ottvall" /> The female also has a high-pitched cheep call, and a ''{{not a typo|oo-oo-oo}}'' sound to call the chick. The chicks make a quiet ''{{not a typo|peeick-peeick}}'' contact call, and a chirp used to beg for food.<ref name= "taylor320" /> Because of the difficulty in seeing this species, it is usually [[census]]ed by counting males calling between 11&nbsp;pm and 3&nbsp;am;<ref name= "bibby" /> the birds do not move much at night, whereas they may wander up to {{convert|600|m|yd|abbr=on}} during the day, which could lead to double-counting if monitored then.<ref name= "Hudson" /> Identifying individual males suggests that just counting calling birds underestimates the true count by nearly 30%, and the discrepancy is likely to be greater, since only 80% of males may call at all on a given night.<ref name= "Peake" /> The corn crake is silent in Africa.<ref name= "newman" />

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Hay Crop - geograph.org.uk - 34715.jpg|Hayfields are the preferred nesting habitat.|alt=Field of hay with green field beyond|thumb]]
The corn crake breeds from Ireland east through Europe to central Siberia. Although it has vanished from much of its historic range, this bird was once found in suitable habitats in Eurasia everywhere between latitudes 41°N and 62°N.<ref name= "rocamora" /> There is also a sizable population in western China,<ref name= "asia" /> but this species nests only rarely in northern Spain and in Turkey. Old claims of breeding in South Africa are incorrect, and result from misidentification of eggs in a museum collection which are actually those of the [[African rail]].

The corn crake winters mainly in Africa, from the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] and central Tanzania south to eastern South Africa. North of this area, it is mainly seen on migration, but occasionally winters in [[North Africa]] and to the west and north of its core area in southeast Africa. Most of the South African population of about 2,000 birds occurs in [[KwaZulu-Natal]] and the former [[Transvaal Province]], and numbers elsewhere in Africa are uncertain. There are several nineteenth-century records, when populations were much higher than now, of birds being seen in western Europe, mainly Britain and Ireland, between December and February.<ref name= "BWP" />
[[File:Crex crex00.jpg|thumb|alt=Old painting of two adults with a black, downy chick|upright|Adults and young]]
This crake migrates to Africa along two main routes: a western route through Morocco and Algeria, and a more important [[flyway]] through Egypt. On passage, it has been recorded in most countries between its breeding and wintering ranges, including much of West Africa.<ref name= "taylor320" /> Birds from [[Coll]] following the western route paused in West Africa on their way further south, and again on the return flight, when they also rested in Spain or North Africa.<ref name= "BB106" /> Eastern migrants have been recorded in those parts of southern Asia that lie between the east of the breeding range and Africa. Further afield, the corn crake has been recorded as a [[vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Australia,<ref name= "asia" /> New Zealand,<ref>{{cite web |title=Corncrake |url=http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/?q=node/307 |website=New Zealand Birds Online}}</ref> the Seychelles,<ref name= "ABC" /> Bermuda,<ref name= "bourne" /> Canada, the US, Greenland,<ref name= "taylor320" /> Iceland, the [[Faroe islands|Faroes]], the [[Azores]], [[Madeira]], and the [[Canary Islands]].<ref name= "BWP" />

The corn crake is mainly a lowland species, but breeds up to {{convert|1,400|m|ft|abbr=on}} altitude in the [[Alps]], {{convert|2700|m|ft|abbr=on}} in China and {{convert|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Russia.<ref name= "asia" /><ref name= "BWP" /> When breeding in Eurasia, the corn crake's habitats would originally have included river meadows with tall grass and meadow plants including [[Carex|sedges]] and [[iris (plant)|irises]]. It is now mainly found in cool moist grassland used for the production of hay, particularly moist traditional farmland with limited cutting or fertiliser use. It also utilises other treeless grasslands in mountains or [[taiga]], on coasts, or where created by fire. Moister areas like wetland edges may be used, but very wet habitats are avoided, as are open areas and those with vegetation more than {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} tall, or too dense to walk through. The odd bush or hedge may be used as a calling post. Grassland which is not mown or grazed becomes too matted to be suitable for nesting, but locally-grown crops such as [[cereal]]s, peas, [[Brassica napus|rape]], [[clover]] or potatoes may be used. After breeding, adults move to taller vegetation such as [[Phragmites|common reed]], iris, or [[Urtica dioica|nettle]]s to moult, returning to the hay and [[silage]] meadows for the second brood.<ref name= "taylor320" /> In China, [[flax]] is also used for nest sites.<ref name= "asia" /> Although males often sing in intensively managed grass or cereal crops, successful breeding is uncommon, and nests in the field margins or nearby fallow ground are more likely to succeed.<ref name= "rocamora" />

When wintering in Africa, the corn crake occupies dry grassland and [[savanna]] habitats, occurring in vegetation {{convert|30|–|200|cm|ft|abbr=on}} tall, including seasonally burnt areas and occasionally sedges or [[reed bed]]s. It is also found on fallow and abandoned fields, uncut grass on airfields, and the edges of crops. It occurs at up to at least {{convert|1,750|m|ft|abbr=on}} altitude in South Africa.<ref name= "taylor320" /> Each bird stays within a fairly small area.<ref name= "BB106" /> Although it sometimes occurs with the African crake, that species normally prefers moister and shorter grassland habitats than does the corn crake.<ref name= "taylor316" /> On migration, the corn crake may also occur in wheatfields and around [[golf course]]s.<ref name= "taylor320" />

==Behaviour==
[[File:Corncrake.jpg|thumb|alt=upstretched head and neck|upright|Adult corn crake camouflaged in a field (Russia, 2006)]]
The corn crake is a difficult bird to see in its breeding sites, usually being hidden by vegetation, but will sometimes emerge into the open. Occasionally, individuals may become very trusting; for five consecutive summers, an individual crake on the Scottish island of [[Tiree]] entered a kitchen to feed on scraps, and, in 1999, a wintering [[Barra]] bird would come for poultry feed once the chickens had finished.<ref name= "cocker" /> In Africa, it is more secretive than the African crake, and, unlike its relative, it is rarely seen in the open, although it occasionally feeds on tracks or road sides. The corn crake is most active early and late in the day, after heavy rain and during light rain. Its typical flight is weak and fluttering, although less so than that of the African crake. For longer flights, such as migration, it has a steadier, stronger action with legs drawn up. It walks with a high-stepping action, and can run swiftly through grass with its body held horizontal and laterally flattened. It will swim if essential. When flushed by a dog, it will fly less than {{convert|50|m|ft|abbr=on}}, frequently landing behind a bush or thicket, and then crouch on landing. If disturbed in the open, this crake will often run in a crouch for a short distance, with its neck stretched forward, then stand upright to watch the intruder. When captured it may feign death, recovering at once if it sees a way out.<ref name= "taylor320" />

The corn crake is solitary on the wintering grounds, where each bird occupies {{convert|4.2|–|4.9|ha|acre|abbr=on}} at one time, although the total area used may be double that, since an individual may move locally due to flooding, plant growth, or grass cutting. Flocks of up to 40 birds may form on migration, sometimes associating with [[common quail]]s. Migration takes place at night, and flocks resting during the day may aggregate to hundreds of birds at favoured sites.<ref name= "taylor320" /> The ability to migrate is innate, not learned from adults. Chicks raised from birds kept in captivity for ten generations were able to migrate to Africa and return with similar success to wild-bred young.<ref name= "Pain2011" />

===Breeding===
[[File:Corncrake egg, b.png|upright|thumb|alt=cream-coloured egg with red-brown blotches|Painting of an egg]]
[[File:Crex crex MWNH 0070.JPG|thumb|Collection of eggs in [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]
Until 1995, it was assumed that the corn crake is [[monogamy in animals|monogamous]], but it transpires that a male may have a shifting home range, and mate with two or more females, moving on when laying is almost complete. The male's territory can vary from {{convert|3|to|51|ha|acre|abbr=on}}, but averages {{convert|15.7|ha|acre|abbr=on}}. The female has a much smaller range, averaging only {{convert|5.5|ha|acre|abbr=on}}. A male will challenge an intruder by calling with his wings drooped and his head pointing forward. Usually the stranger moves off; if it stays, the two birds square up with heads and necks raised and the wings touching the ground. They then run around giving the growling call and lunging at each other. A real fight may ensue, with the birds leaping at each other and pecking, and sometimes kicking. Females play no part in defending the territory.

The female may be offered food by the male during courtship. He has a brief courtship display in which the neck is extended and the head held down, the tail is fanned, and the wings are spread with the tips touching the ground. He will then attempt to approach the female from behind, and then leap on her back to copulate. The nest is typically in grassland, sometimes in safer sites along a hedge, or near an isolated tree or bush, or in overgrown vegetation. Where grass is not tall enough at the start of the season, the first nest may be constructed in herby or marsh vegetation, with the second brood in hay.<ref name= "taylor320" /> The second nest may also be at a higher altitude that the first, to take advantage of the later-developing grasses further up a hill.<ref name= "BirdLife" /> The nest, well hidden in the grass, is built in a scrape or hollow in the ground. It is made of woven coarse dry grass and other plants, and lined with finer grasses.<ref name= "Seebohm" /> Although nest construction is usually described as undertaken by the female,<ref name= "BWP" /> a recent aviary study found that in the captive population the male always built the nest.<ref name= "graham" />

The nest is {{convert|12|–|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter and {{convert|3|–|4|cm|in|abbr=on}} deep. The clutch is 6–14, usually 8–12&nbsp;eggs; these are oval, slightly glossy, creamy or tinted with green, blue or grey, and blotched red-brown. They average {{convert|37|×|26|mm|in|abbr=on}} and weigh about {{convert|13|–|16|g|oz|abbr=on}},<ref name= "taylor320" /> of which 7% is shell.<ref name= "BTO" /> The eggs are laid at daily intervals, but second clutches may sometimes have two eggs added per day. Incubation is by the female only; her tendency to sit tight when disturbed, or wait until the last moment to flee, leads to many deaths during hay-cutting and harvesting. The eggs hatch together after 19–20&nbsp;days, and the [[precocial]] chicks leave the nest within a day or two. They are fed by the female for three or four days, but can find their own food thereafter. The juveniles fledge after 34–38&nbsp;days. The second brood is started about 42 days after the first, and the incubation period is slightly shorter at 16–18&nbsp;days. The grown young may stay with the female until departure for Africa.

Nest success in undisturbed sites is high, at 80–90%, but much lower in fertilised meadows and on arable land. The method and timing of mowing is crucial; mechanized mowing can kill 38–95% of chicks in a given site, and losses average 50% of first brood chicks and somewhat less than 40% of second brood chicks.<ref name= "taylor320" /> The influence of weather on chick survival is limited; although chick growth is faster in dry or warm weather, the effects are relatively small. Unlike many precocial species, chicks are fed by their mother to a greater or lesser extent until they become independent, and this may cushion them from adverse conditions. The number of live chicks hatched is more important than the weather, with lower survival in large broods.<ref name= "tylergreen" /> The annual adult survival rate is under 30%,<ref name= "BTO" /><ref name= "green" /> although some individuals may live for 5–7 years.<ref name= "hume" />

===Feeding===
The corn crake is [[omnivore|omnivorous]], but mainly feeds on [[invertebrate]]s, including [[earthworm]]s, [[slug]]s and [[snail]]s, spiders, beetles, [[dragonfly|dragonflies]], [[grasshopper]]s and other insects. In the breeding areas, it is a predator of ''[[Sitona]]'' [[weevil]]s, which infest [[legume]] crops.<ref name= "taylor320" /> and in the past consumed large amounts of the former grassland pests, [[Tipuloidea|leatherjacket]]s and [[click beetle|wireworm]]s.<ref name= "auk49" /> This crake will also eat small frogs and mammals, and plant material including grass seed and cereal grain. Its diet on the wintering grounds is generally similar, but includes locally available items such as [[termite]]s, [[cockroach]]es and [[dung beetle]]s. Food is taken from the ground, low-growing plants and from inside grass tussocks; the crake may search leaf litter with its bill, and run in pursuit of active prey. Hunting is normally in cover, but, particularly in the wintering areas, it will occasionally feed on grassy tracks or dirt roads.<ref name= "taylor320" /> Indigestible material is regurgitated as {{convert|1|cm|in|abbr=on}} [[pellet (ornithology)|pellets]].<ref name= "BWP" /> Chicks are fed mainly on animal food, and when fully grown they may fly with the parents up to {{convert|6.4|km|mi|abbr=on}} to visit supplementary feeding areas. As with other rails, grit is swallowed to help break up food in the stomach.<ref name= "taylor320" /><ref name= "taylor39" />

==Predators and parasites==
[[File:Ciconia ciconia(Gollibolli)4.JPG|The [[white stork]] will kill chicks exposed by early [[mower|mowing]].|thumb|alt=large black and white stork]]

Predators on the breeding grounds include [[feral]] and domestic [[cat]]s, [[introduced species|introduced]] [[American mink]], feral [[ferret]]s, [[weasel]]s, [[rat]]s, [[European otter|otters]] and [[red fox]]es, and birds including the [[common buzzard]] and [[hooded crow]].<ref name= "taylor320" /> In Lithuania, the introduced [[raccoon dog]] has also been recorded as taking corn crakes. When chicks are exposed by rapid mowing, they may be taken by large birds including the [[white stork]], [[harrier (bird)|harriers]] and other [[bird of prey|birds of prey]], [[gull]]s and [[corvidae|corvids]].<ref name= "kees19" /> At undisturbed sites nests and broods are rarely attacked, as reflected in a high breeding success. There is a record of a corn crake on migration through [[Gabon]] being killed by a [[black sparrowhawk]].<ref name= "taylor320" />

The widespread [[Trematoda|fluke]] ''[[Prosthogonimus ovatus]]'', which lives in the [[oviduct]]s of birds, has been recorded in the corn crake,<ref name= "Rothschild" /> as have the [[parasitic worm]] ''[[Plagiorchis elegans]]'',<ref name= "Yildirimhan" /> the larvae of parasitic flies,<ref name= "Matyukhin" /> and [[Ixodidae|hard ticks]] of the genera ''[[Haemaphysalis]]'' and ''[[Ixodes]]''.<ref name= "Hoogstraal" />

During the reintroduction of corn crakes to England in the 2003 breeding season, [[enteritis]] and ill health in pre-release birds was due to [[bacteria]] of a [[pathogen]]ic ''[[Campylobacter]]'' species. Subsequently, [[microbiology]] tests were done to detect infected individuals and to find the source of the bacteria in their environment.<ref name= "Mudenda" />

==Status==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Heuen um 1942.jpg
| width1 = 180
| alt1 = Old photo of hay wagon
| caption1 =
| image2 = Haymaking - geograph.org.uk - 38831.jpg
| width2 = 186
| alt2 = Tractor in crops
| caption2 =
| footer = The move from manual to mechanised hay-making has seriously threatened the European breeding population.
}}

Until 2010, despite a breeding range estimated at {{convert|12,400,000|sqkm|sqmi|abbr=on}}, the corn crake was classified as [[near threatened]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] because of serious declines in Europe, but improved monitoring in Russia indicates that anticipated losses there have not occurred and numbers have remained stable or possibly increased. It is therefore now classed as [[least concern]], since the major populations in Russia and Kazakhstan are not expected to change much in the short term. There are an estimated 1.3–2.0 million breeding pairs in Europe, three-quarters of which are in European Russia, and a further 515,000–1,240,000 pairs in Asiatic Russia; the total Eurasian population has been estimated at between 5.45 and 9.72 million individuals. In much of the western half of its range, there have been long-term declines that are expected to continue, although conservation measures have enabled numbers to grow in several countries, including a five-fold increase in Finland, and a doubling in the UK.<ref name= "BirdLife" /> In the Netherlands, there were 33 breeding territories in 1996, but this number had increased to at least 500 by 1998.<ref name= "vandenBerg1999" />

The breeding corn crake population had begun to decline in the 19th century, but the process gained pace after World War II.<ref name= "kees6" /> The main cause of the steep declines in much of Europe is the loss of nests and chicks from early mowing. Haymaking dates have moved forward in the past century due to faster crop growth, made possible by land drainage and the use of fertilisers, and the move from manual grass-cutting using [[scythe]]s to mechanical [[mower]]s, at first horse-drawn and later pulled by [[tractor]]s. Mechanisation also means that large areas can be cut quickly, leaving the crake with no alternative sites to raise either a first brood if suitable habitat has gone, or a replacement brood if the first nest is destroyed.<ref name= "kees19" /> The pattern of mowing, typically in a circular pattern from the outside of a field to its centre, gives little chance of escape for the chicks, which are also exposed to potential animal predators. Adults can often escape the mowers, although some incubating females sit tight on the nest, with fatal results.<ref name= "taylor320" />
[[File:Landrailrecipe.png|thumb|300px|Mrs Beeton's recipe|alt=page of recipe book|left]]
[[habitat destruction|Loss of habitat]] is the other major threat to the corn crake. Apart from the reduced suitability of drained and fertilised silage fields compared to traditional hay meadows, in western Europe the conversion of grassland to arable has been aided by subsidies, and further east the collapse of [[collective farming]] has led to the abandonment and lack of management of much land in this important breeding area.<ref name= "kees19" /> More localised threats include floods in spring,<ref name= "Donaghy" /> and disturbance by roads or [[wind farm]]s.<ref name= "kees19" /> This bird is edible; when they were common in England, [[Mrs Beeton]] recommended roasting four on a skewer.<ref name= "beeton" /> More significant than direct hunting is the loss of many birds, up to 14,000 a year, in Egypt, where migrating birds are captured in nets set for the quail with which they often migrate.<ref name= "cocker" /> Although this may account for 0.5–2.7% of the European population, the losses to this form of hunting are less than when the targeted species were more numerous and predictable.<ref name= "Newton" />

Most European countries have taken steps to conserve the corn crake and produce national management policies; there is also an overall European action plan.<ref name= "corncrake.pdf International" /> The focus of conservation effort is to monitor populations and [[ecology]] and to improve survival, principally through changing the timing and method of hay harvesting.<ref name= "BirdLife" /> Later cutting gives time for breeding to be completed, and leaving uncut strips at the edges of fields and cutting from the centre outwards reduces the casualties from mowing.<ref name= "taylor320" /> Implementing these changes is predicted to stop the population decline if the measures are applied on a sufficiently large scale.<ref name= "tyler" /> Reduction of illegal hunting, and protection in countries where hunting is still allowed, are also conservation aims.<ref name= "BirdLife" /> Reintroduction of the corn crake is being attempted in England, and breeding sites are scheduled for protection in many other countries.<ref name= "Holden" /> Where breeding sites impinge on urban areas, there are cost implications, estimated in one German study at several million euros per corn crake.<ref name= "Matauschek" /> The corn crake does not appear to be seriously threatened on its wintering grounds and may benefit from deforestation, which creates more open habitats.<ref name= "taylor316" />

==In culture==
Most rails are secretive wetland birds that have made little cultural impression, but as a formerly common farmland bird with a loud nocturnal call that sometimes led to disturbed sleep for rural dwellers, the corn crake has acquired a variety of folk names and some commemoration in literature.<ref name= "cocker" />

===Names===
[[File:Bewickland rail.jpg|alt=old drawing of a corn crake|thumb|Land rail, by [[Thomas Bewick]]]]
The favoured name for this species among naturalists has changed over the years, with "landrail" and variants of "corncrake" being preferred at various times. "Crake gallinule" also had a period of popularity between 1768 and 1813.<ref name= "lockwood93" /> The originally [[Older Scots]] "cornecrake" was popularised by [[Thomas Bewick]], who used this term in his 1797 ''A History of British Birds''.<ref name= "rh" /> Other Scots names include "corn scrack" and "quailzie"; the latter term, like "king of the quail",<ref name= "rh" /> "grass quail",<ref name= "coward" /> the French "''roi de caille''", and the German "''Wachtelkönig''" refer to the association with the small gamebird.<ref name= "cocker" /> Another name, "daker", has been variously interpreted as [[onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]],<ref name= "lockwood52" /> or derived from the [[Old Norse]] ''ager-hoene'', meaning "cock of the field";<ref name= "rh" /> variants include "drake", "drake Hen" and "gorse drake".<ref name= "lockwood55" />

===In literature===
Corn crakes are the subject of three stanzas of the seventeenth century poet [[Andrew Marvell|Andrew Marvell's]] "[[Upon Appleton House]]", written in 1651 about the [[North Yorkshire]] country estate of [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]]. The narrator depicts the scene of a mower cutting the grass, before his "whistling Sithe" unknowingly "carves the Rail". The farmhand draws out the scythe "all bloody from its breast" and "does the stroke detest". It continues with a stanza that demonstrates the problematic nature of the corn crake's nesting habits:<ref name= "Smith2006" />
<poem>
Unhappy Birds! What does it boot
To build below the Grass' Root;
When Lowness is unsafe as Hight,
And Chance o'ertakes, what scapeth spight?
</poem>

[[John Clare]], the nineteenth-century English poet based in [[Northamptonshire]], wrote "The Landrail", a semi-comic piece which is primarily about the difficulty of seeing corn crakes – as opposed to hearing them. In the fourth verse he exclaims: "Tis like a fancy everywhere/A sort of living doubt". Clare wrote about corn crakes in his prose works too, and his writings help to clarify the distribution of this rail when it was far more widespread than now.<ref name= "Mynott" />

The Finnish poet [[Eino Leino]] also wrote about the bird in his poem "Nocturne".<ref name= "leino" />
<poem>
The corncrake's song rings in my ears,
above the rye a full moon sails
</poem>

The proverbial use of the corn crake's call to describe someone with a grating or unmelodious voice is illustrated in the quotation "thanks to a wee woman with a voice like a corncrake who believed she was an apprentice angel".<ref name= "bell" /> This usage dates from at least the first half of the nineteenth century,<ref name= "morgan" /> and continues through to the present.<ref name= "aston" />

===In music===

In [[The Pogues]] "Lullaby of London" [[Shane MacGowan]] uses the corncrake's cry as a motif to illustrate his alienation in the city, he sings:
<poem>
Though there is no lonesome corncrake's cry
Of sorrow and delight
You can hear the cars
And the shouts from bars
And the laughter and the fights<ref name= "Lullaby Of London" />
</poem>

In [[The Decemberists]] "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" [[Colin Meloy]] references the corn crake's call, singing: "And we'll lie until the corn crake crows." <ref name= "decemberists" />

== References ==
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<ref name= "Holden" >{{cite book |last1=Holden |first1=Peter |last2=Cleeves |first2=Tim |title=RSPB Handbook of British Birds |year=2010 |location=Robertsbridge, East Sussex |publisher=Christopher Helm |isbn=978-1-4081-2735-3 |page=110}}</ref>

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<ref name= "hume" >{{cite book |last=Hume |first=Rob |others=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |title=RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe |year=2009 |location=London |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |isbn=978-1-4053-4589-7 |page=264}}</ref>

<ref name= "ioc" >{{cite web |title=Bustards to Limpkin |work=IOC World Bird List |url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/n-bustards.html |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522070148/http://www.worldbirdnames.org/n-bustards.html |archive-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
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<ref name= "leino" >{{cite web |last=Leino |first=Eino |others=Bosley, Keith (translator) |title=Nocturne |url=http://www.kainuuneinoleinoseura.fi/ |publisher=Kainuun Eino Leino [Eino Leino Society] |access-date=9 October 2013 |language=fi}}</ref>

<ref name= "Linnaeus1758" >{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carolus |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata |volume=1 |location=Holmiae (Stockholm) |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |year=1758 |language=la |page=153 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727060}}</ref>

<ref name= "Livezey1" >{{harvnb|Livezey|1998|p=2098}}</ref>

<ref name= "lockwood52" >{{harvnb|Lockwood|1984|p=52}}</ref>

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<ref name= "lockwood93" >{{harvnb|Lockwood|1984|p=93}}</ref>

<ref name= "Matauschek" >{{cite journal |last=Matauschek |first=Jan Marcus |year=2005 |title=The impact of endangered species law on the real estate development process explored with cost-benefit analysis: The case of the corncrake in Hamburg/Germany |journal=German Working Papers in Law and Economics |volume=2005 |issue=Paper 7 |pages=1–30 |url=http://www.uni-saarland.de/fak1/fr12/csle/workshop/program/Matauschek_CorncrakePaper_GWP.pdf }}</ref>

<ref name= "Matyukhin" >{{cite journal |last1=Matyukhin |first1=V. |last2=Krivosheina |first2=M.G. |year=2008 |title=Contribution to the knowledge of Diptera (Insecta) parasitizing on birds |journal=Entomological Review |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=258–259 |doi=10.1134/S0013873808020115|s2cid=21767567 }}</ref>

<ref name= "morgan" >{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Sir Thomas Charles |author2=Lady Morgan |title=The Book Without a Name |volume=1 |year=1841 |location=New York |publisher=Wiley and Putnam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmgRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA162 |page=162}}</ref>

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<ref name= "Mynott" >{{cite book |last=Mynott |first=Jeremy |title=Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience |year=2009 |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-13539-7 |page=1}}</ref>

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<ref name= "rh" >{{cite book |last=Hull |first=Robin |year=2001 |title=Scottish Birds: Culture and Tradition |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Mercat Press |page=156 |isbn=1-84183-025-9}}</ref>

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<ref name= "tyler" >{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Rhys E. |last2=Tyler |first2=G.A. |last3=Stowe |first3=T.J. |last4=Newton |first4=A.V. |year=1997 |title=A simulation model of the effect of mowing of agricultural grassland on the breeding success of the corncrake (''Crex crex'') |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=243 |issue=1 |pages=81–115 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb05758.x}}</ref>

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<ref name= "vandenBerg1999" >{{cite journal |last=van den Berg |first=Arnoud B. |year=1999 |title=European news 45 |journal=British Birds |volume=92 |issue=6 |pages=278–300}}</ref>

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<ref name= "corncrake.pdf International" >[http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/action_plans/docs/intl_corncrake.pdf International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Corncrake, June 2006.]</ref>

<ref name= "Lullaby Of London" >{{cite web|url=http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/lullaby-of-london-lyrics-and-chords.html|title=Lullaby Of London Lyrics And Chords |website=Irish folk songs|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

<ref name= "decemberists" >{{cite web|url=http://home.decemberists.com/albums/the-hazards-of-love/|title=The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love|website=The Decemberists|access-date=30 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201005149/http://home.decemberists.com/albums/the-hazards-of-love/|archive-date=2018-12-01|url-status=dead}}</ref>

}}

== Cited texts ==
* {{cite book |last1=Koffijberg |first1=Kees |last2=Schaffer |first2=Norbert |title=International single species action plan for the conservation of the Corncrake ''Crex crex'' |year=2006 |location=Bonn, Germany |publisher=Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) (CMS Technical Series & AEWA Technical Series 14 & 9) |url=http://www.unep-aewa.org/publications/technical_series/ts9_ssap_corncrake_complete.pdf }}
* {{cite journal |last=Livezey |first=Bradley C. |year=1998 |title=A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae) |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |volume=353 |issue=1378 |pages=2077–2151 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0353 |pmc=1692427 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lockwood |first=W.B. |title=Oxford Book of British Bird Names |year=1984 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-214155-4 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Barry |last2=van Perlo |first2=Berl |title=Rails |year=2000 |publisher=Pica |location=Robertsbridge, Sussex |isbn=1-873403-59-3 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Crex crex}}
{{Wikispecies|Crex crex}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|corncrake-crex-crex|Corncrake}}
* {{field guide birds of the world|Crex crex}}
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Crex_crex/Crex_crex.htm#Top Feathers of corn crake (''Crex crex'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819035107/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Crex_crex/Crex_crex.htm#Top |date=2018-08-19 }}
* ''[http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/appleton.htm Upon Appleton House, to my Lord Fairfax]'' by Andrew Marvell
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120326155835/http://hellopoetry.com/poem/the-landrail/ The Landrail]'' by John Clare
* [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/211.pdf Corn crake species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds]
* {{Avibase|name=Crex crex}}
* {{VIREO|corn+crake}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Crex|crex|Corn crake}}

{{Crex}}
{{Gruiformes|R.|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Birds|Animals|Biology}}
{{Taxonbar |from=Q26017}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Crex|corn crake]]
[[Category:Birds of Eurasia]]
[[Category:Birds of Russia]]
[[Category:Birds of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|corn crake]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|corn crake]]