- Lifespan
- 5–8 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 33–38 cm, wingspan 49–58 cm; 140–200 g
- Habitat
- Dense reedbeds, wetlands, and freshwater marshes with tall vegetation and shallow water.
- UK Distribution
- Scarce summer visitor to southern and central England, primarily April to September. Occasionally winters in small numbers in southern regions.
- Diet
- Small fish, amphibians, aquatic insects, and occasionally small reptiles and crustaceans.
- Prey
- Fish, tadpoles, newts, dragonfly nymphs, water beetles
- Predators
- Foxes, stoats, weasels, gulls, corvids, and birds of prey such as Marsh Harriers and Sparrowhawks
- Mating Season
- April to July
- Breeding
- Clutch of 4–5 eggs, incubation period 17–19 days, typically one brood per season. Nest built as a platform of reeds over water.
- Behaviour
- Highly secretive and crepuscular, spending most time hidden in dense vegetation. Males produce a distinctive deep, resonant booming call during breeding season. Solitary and territorial, rarely seen in the open.