The brown-cheeked rail or eastern water rail (''Rallus indicus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Rallidae Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes ...

. It breeds in northern Mongolia, eastern Siberia, northeast China, Korea and northern Japan, and winters in southeast Asia.Taylor & van Perlo (2000) p. 29 It used to be considered a subspecies of the

water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...

Description

The brown-cheeked rail or eastern water rail

The species differs from the slightly smaller nominate form through its paler upperparts, brown-tinged underparts and a brown stripe through the eye. Compared to R. a. korejewi, it is darker above, has a browner breast, white on the throat and a more obvious brown eyestripe. As indicated above, it has different vocalisations to the other forms, and is now usually given full species status, although its behaviour, nest and eggs are identical to those of other subspecies of water rail. In addition to its distinctive plumage, it has very different vocalisations from the water rail, and it was considered a separate species in early works, including the first edition (1898) of '' Fauna of British India'', but later demoted to a subspecies by E. C. Stuart Baker in the second edition (1929). It was restored as a full species, the eastern water rail, ''R. indicus'', by

Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithology, ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State Uni ...

in her ''

Birds of South Asia ''Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide'' by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton is a two-volume ornithological handbook, covering the birds of South Asia, published in 2005 (second edition in 2012) by the Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Ed ...

'' (2005). Rasmussen, an expert on Asian birds, also renamed the other forms as the western water rail. Her treatment has gained acceptance, and is followed in ''Birds of Malaysia and Singapore'' (2010). A 2010 study of molecular phylogeny further supported the possibility of specific status for ''R. a. indicus'', which is estimated to have diverged from the western forms around 534,000 years ago. The paper also suggested that the differences between the three other races were clinal, and that they should all be merged into ''R. a. aquaticus''. The call is quite different from that of the water rail. The courtship call, again given throughout the year, is a sharp piping ''kyu'', longer and clearer than that of the European race. The song is a series of metallic slurred ''shrink, shrink'' notes, about two per second, and repeated after a short pause. The eastern race does not respond to recorded announcement calls of nominate ''R. a. aquaticus''. The average weight of wind-dried nests of ''R. indicus'' in Japan was 95 g (3.4 oz).

Distribution and habitat

The species is mainly migratory, wintering in southern Japan, eastern China and northern

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. It is uncommon in northern parts of Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, and northern and central Thailand, and does not normally reach further south in mainland southeast Asia. Migrants have been recorded on Sri Lanka in the past, although on the Indian mainland they are found mainly in the northern regions, with a few records from as far south as

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. On arrival in India, rails may be so exhausted that they can be caught by hand. The breeding birds on the Japanese island of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

mostly migrate well south including to Korea but a few remain during winter in the coastal marshes of

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3454180 Rallus Birds of Manchuria Birds described in 1849 Taxa named by Edward Blyth