Watercock
Gallicrex cinerea (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 303 g to 503 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the watercock
- Weight
- 303 g – 503 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 68 cm – 86 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 24 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.2 – 4.35src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the watercock?
Where does the watercock live?
Not recorded
What is the watercock?
The watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus Gallicrex.
From the Wikipedia article “Watercock” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Watercock&oldid=1379595871), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the watercock endangered?
The watercock is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the watercock classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusGallicrex
- SpeciesGallicrex cinerea (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Fulica cinerea, Gallicrex cinerea cinerea, Gallinula cristata, Gallinula lugubris, Gallinula noevia, Gallinula plumbea, Gallinula porphorioides, Rallus rufescens
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- ديك الماءArabic
- কোড়াBangla
- polla crestadaCatalan
- chřástal rohatýCzech
- SkjoldhøneDanish
- SchildralleGerman
- WasserhahnGerman
- kresta raloEsperanto
- Gallineta crestadaSpanish
- sarviktaitEstonian
- kukkorääkkäFinnish
- Râle à crêteFrench
- Coileach uisceIrish
- lisasta kokošicaCroatian
- vízikakasHungarian
- Mandar bontodIndonesian
- Gallorallo acquaioloItalian
- ツルクイナJapanese
- 뜸부기Korean
- raguotoji vištelėLithuanian
- ūdensgailītisLatvian
- തീപ്പൊരിക്കണ്ണൻMalayalam
- WaterhaanDutch
- RoodpootwaterhoenDutch
- hanerikseNorwegian
- kokosznikPolish
- galo-d'águaPortuguese
- galo-de-águaPortuguese
- Рогатая камышницаRussian
- kohútec rohatýSlovak
- Vodeni petaoSerbian
- tupprallSwedish
- นกอีลุ้มThai
- İbikli SukılavuzuTurkish
- курочка рогатаUkrainian
- 水雞Chinese
- 董雞Chinese
- 董鸡Chinese
- 鶴秧雞Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the watercock
Other species in the same family Rallidae.
Eurasian coot
Fulica atra
Common moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
Corn crake
Crex crex
Water rail
Rallus aquaticus
Spotted crake
Porzana porzana
Baillon's crake
Zapornia pusilla
CompareWatercock vs Eurasian cootWatercock vs Common moorhenWatercock vs Corn crakeWatercock vs Water rail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the watercock?
An adult watercock weighs 303 g – 503 g and has a wingspan of 68 cm – 86 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the watercock endangered?
The watercock is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the watercock?
The watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/watercock
“Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/watercock.
@misc{watercock_2026,
title = {Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/watercock},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}