A secretive Eurasian marshbird with dark grey and brown plumage, making loud grunts and squeals in the breeding season.
普通秧鸡，水秧鸡
Rallus aquaticus, family Rallidae
Example sentencesExamples
Of greatest interest was the diminutive water rail, a secretive reedbed dwelling bird that is seldom seen and only occasionally heard as it utters its squealing call from the depths of a marsh in the dead of night.
The 47 dead birds were seven barn owls, three kingfishers, a lapwing, a hen harrier, six long-eared owls, nine tawny owls, two kestrels, three green woodpeckers, six little owls, seven sparrowhawks, a water rail and a waxwing.
The group has also managed the wet farmland so winter visitors include snipe, redshank, water rail and common sandpiper.
After some time, a red-beaked water rail slipped from the rushes nearby and scuttled past.
Another winter wonder at the reserve is the normally shy, secretive water rail.