Baillon's Crake
Porzana pussilla (Pallas, 1776)
Porzana Bailonnii Vieill: Hristovich, 1870: 158; Gallinula pygmaea Naum: Reiser,1894: 158.
Order Gruiformes
Family Rallidae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Critically endangered CR D, BDA-II, III; International: ECS-Spec 3, BeC-II, BD-I.
General distribution. An Old World species spread in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. A breeding summer visitor and probably passage migrant. In the past it was registered in the region of Silistra [1], in Northeastern Bulgaria [2], the Burgas lakes [3], in the region of Sofia [4, 5, 6, 7], but without certain proof of breeding. During migration it was registered in the Pazardzhik region [8], the Plovdiv region [9] and along the Black Sea coast [10, 11, 12]. At present, it breeds mainly along the valley of the Danube (Srebarna [13], the bogs along the line Nikopol – Gulyantsi – Baikal and in the region of Somovit) and within the country. Most stable is the population in the Dragoman Swamp [14]. It was also registered in the Musachevo Swamp, as near the town of Voluyak. In 2005 and 2006, between the villages of Dolni Bogrov and Ravno Pole, 3-5 breeding pairs were registered for the first time. It incubates in the tailings-pond near the town of Malko Tarnovo; the fish farms near the village of Trud, Plovdiv region, the Mechka fish farms and the dried up Straldzha Swamp. Along the Black Sea coast it was reported in the Mandra Reservoir (Delov, unpublished information). The distribution is strongly fragmented, probably with considerable fluctuations in the different years. The numbers in the country are between 20 and 80 pairs. The tendencies of the population abundance and its distribution are most probably negative.
Habitats. Bogs, rice fields, turf marshes and along the periphery of wet meadows. It prefers spacious boggy areas covered with comparatively thin thick-stem herbaceous vegetation (mainly of the genus Carex), distributed in separate tufts and divided by small water mirrors with comparatively clear water. It avoids water basins with intensive eutrophication processes and the brackish water basins along the Black Sea coast.
Biology. The nests are built excessively from the stems of Sedge, located at 87-135 m one from the other (on an area of 0.405 ha, up to 3 pairs can breed). The clutch consists of 5-9 light-green eggs. It feeds on water insects and small invertebrates.
Similar species. The Little Crake (Porzana parva), the Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana).
Negative factors. Draining of the bogs, building dikes and roundabout roads, thus discontinuing the connection with the boggy herbaceous habitats; the variations in the water regime; mowing, pasture and the decay of rice production in the country are essential negative factors.
Conservation measures taken. The Dragoman Swamp, where the most stable breeding population is found (about 40% of the national one), is proposed to be declared Protected Territory.
Conservation measures needed. Mapping and studying the bogs and the newly arising habitats as a result of floods; discontinuation of pasture and mowing in the habitats of the species; prevention of the drying up of the bogs in the summer months.
References. 1. Paspaleva-Antonova, 1961; 2. Simeonov, 1975; 3. Prostov,1964; 4. Reiser, 1894; 5. Mountfort, Ferguson-Lees, 1961; 6. Simeonov, Sofroniev, 1968; 7. Paspaleva-Antonova, 1964; 8. Hristovich, 1890; 9. Jordans, 1940; 10. Peshev, 1971; 11. Prostov, Smilova, 1983; 12. Roberts, 1981; 13. Kambourova, 2004; 14. Delov, 2002.
Author: Ventseslav Delov
