---
title: "Water Rail"
description: "Rallus aquaticus — Uccelli. 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."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/water-rail
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Water Rail

> Rallus aquaticus — Uccelli. 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.

- Scientific name: *Rallus aquaticus*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 9033
- Wikidata: [Q185099](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q185099)
- iNaturalist taxon: [513926](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/513926)

## Names

- en: Water Rail
- de: Wasserralle
- es: Rascón Común
- fr: Râle d'eau
- nl: Waterral
- pt: Frango-d'água-europeu
- pl: Wodnik zwyczajny

## Countries with the most observations

IT (1023), RU (952), GB (885), FR (773), DE (682), ES (440), UA (226), CH (218), PT (176), AT (157), DK (136), NL (122)

## Summary

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 species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is 23–28 cm (9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_rail

## Photo

![Water Rail](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/water-rail/medium.jpg)

Photo: Лариса Артемьева · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68556053

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/water-rail?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).