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Story: Wetland birds

Banded rail on nest with eggs

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Banded rail on nest with eggs

Banded rails nest in dense rushes or grasses, where females lay from three to six pale-brown or pinkish eggs with darker blotches. Adults take turn to incubate the eggs, which hatch after 18 days. Chicks fledge at five to six weeks, and are then evicted from the territory.

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by Geoff Moon

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How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Wetland birds – Rails and crakes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/14652/banded-rail-on-nest-with-eggs (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 1 March 2009.