Ausnahme Bleßhühner Vienna

Sumpfhühner are small, slender rails with a laterally compressed body, long toes and a short tail, anatomy that lets them slip through dense waterside vegetation. The spotted crake reaches about 22 to 24 centimetres in length and shows a grey-brown plumage with fine white spots on neck, breast and flanks, plus a short yellowish bill with a red base. The little crake and the even smaller Baillon's crake are sparrow- to starling-sized and notoriously hard to identify in the field. Their habitat lies in the silting zones of standing and slow-flowing waters, in wet sedge meadows, damp grasslands, flooded reed beds and shallow bog areas with a permanently low water level. The spotted crake favours open, sunlit wet meadows and sedge stands, the little crake prefers dense reeds with a mosaic of cover and open water, and Baillon's crake selects shallow, vegetation-rich zones with low growth. All three species are extremely secretive. They stay in cover, fly reluctantly and are far more often heard than seen, calling mainly at dusk and through the night. Populations in Germany are small and fluctuate strongly. The spotted crake is listed as endangered on the German Red List, the little crake ranges from endangered to critically endangered, and Baillon's crake is regarded as extinct or lost as a breeding bird. The main pressures are drainage of wetlands, loss of shallow water zones, agricultural intensification, and the regulation of water levels. For you as a hunter the conclusion is clear, the Sumpfhühner are fully protected year-round. The main confusion species are the huntable coot and the protected moorhen, both noticeably larger and bound to open water. Anyone who preserves or restores silting zones, reed belts and wet lowlands in their hunting ground makes a direct contribution to the survival of these quiet rails.