Small ponytail 18-20 cm long, wingspan 34-39 cm. The male weighs 30-72 g, the weight of the female is 36-65 g. The life of a small crake is almost 6 years. The brown plumage of the top has a blackish and white pattern. The bottom of the male is bluish-gray with weak stripes on the sides, the female is brownish. It differs from the crownfish by its greenish paws, olive-green beak with a red spot at the base and the missing black longitudinal stripes on the sides.
Small crake is common from Eastern Europe to Western Siberia, in Central Europe it is found only in the east and southeast. It dwells in marshland, in reed, coniferous and reed thickets. Since the bird can also swim, it settles in reed beds farther from the coast than other chicks. It is a migratory bird, wintering in southwestern Europe, in the Mediterranean basin, in East and North Africa. Flies away in October and returns in March.
The small ponyfish feeds on invertebrates and their larvae, delicate plant shoots and seeds of aquatic plants.
The nest is a massive, dense bowl made of reeds, sedges, etc., which is lined inside with thinner plant material. The nest is well concealed by stalks tightened from above. Once or twice a year, from May to June and from June to July, the female lays from 4 to 8 yellowish eggs with brown specks of 29 mm in size, which hatch for 21-23 days both parents. After hatching, chicks remain up to 8 days in the nest, on the 50th day they learn to fly.
The small crake is active during the day, appearing primarily in the morning and in the evening. More often than other heads, it catches the eye, usually when it floats at the edge of reed beds. The male sings mostly at dawn. The invocation cry sounds like a “quek-quek”. A female without a pair has its own draft cry, which sounds like “baked-baked-pell” or “kick”.
The Little Thug in the list of endangered nesting birds is classified as an extinct species.
