— unlike Pied Avocet it has a straight beak

— one of East Africa's common water birds

— found on most lakes, around waterholes and on the edges of marshes

— found with cattle and other large animals - catches the insects

— name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call

— expanded in 20th century where dams & intensive farming - displacing waders

— crakes have short bills

— uses it’s long toes to avoid sticking in mud

— likes freshwater wetlands, swamps, marshes, well-vegetated rivers, lakes, and ponds

— eggs are colored depending on the birds habitat

— highly-developed ability to detect potential predators

— dive-bomb any intruders screeching loudly to frighten them away

— gregarious - sometimes forming large flocks of up to thirty birds or more

— forages for food on open dry mud and short grass, usually close to water

— calls any intruder and feigns a broken wing until far enough from the nest - then flies off

— eats insects, invertebrates and small crustaceans

— with long toes can walk across water lilies and other water-plants in order to forage

— named after black cap, worn by European lawyers

— became extinct in Great Britain in the mid-19th century

— later, successful re-colonisation in Britain in the 1940s

— foraging - they sweep their bills from side to side in water

— forages by sight on the ground or in shallow water

— breeds across most of Europe and Asia - migrates to Africa

— sometimes eats small fish and frogs

— it can take flying insects from the air

— occasionally supplements its diet with seeds

— mostly seen picking insects from the water surface or probing mud