Water rail Rallus aquaticus breeding density and habitat preferences in Northern Italy

The Water Rail Rallus aquaticus is an elusive and poorly studied species, despite its widespread distribution in Eurasian wetlands. We carried out a survey of the species' macrohabitat preferences during the breeding season at a natural wetland site in northern Italy, by comparing habitat features of territory plots (determined by accurate territory mapping) and plots located at random within the wetland area. Overall, 20 territorial pairs inhabited the study area (21.6 ha) during the 2002 breeding season, leading to a breeding density of 0.93 territories/ha. Compared to random plots, territory plots were characterised by a higher Phragmites, Typha and water cover. Thus, at the single-site level, the Water Rail showed a marked association with the presence of wet reeds, while avoiding the drier habitats, which replace Phragmites reeds in wetland ecological successions. In conclusion, our study strengthens previous findings and further highlights that the management of wet reeds should be a priority in wetland conservation planning.