Is the white-breasted waterhen a protected animal? This article answers that for you

The white-breasted waterhen, scientific name Amaurornis phoenicurus, also known as the white-breasted rail, white-faced chicken, white-bellied rail, and bitter chicken, is distributed in India, southern China, and Southeast Asia. So is it a protected animal? What does it eat?

Is the white-breasted waterhen a protected animal?

The white-breasted waterhen is a protected animal. On August 1, 2000, it was included by China's State Forestry Administration in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals under State Protection that Are Beneficial or Have Important Economic or Scientific Research Value."

What does the white-breasted waterhen eat?

The white-breasted waterhen is omnivorous. Its animal-based foods include insects (beetles, grasshoppers, etc.) and their larvae, diving beetle larvae, adult coleopterans, snout moths and their larvae, ants, tadpole shrimp, snails, spiral shells, mice, worms, mollusks, spiders, small fish, and more; it also eats grass seeds and the tender stems and roots of aquatic plants. Its plant-based foods include vetch seeds, wild water chestnut seeds, barnyard grass, melon seeds, millet, barley, wheat, plant seeds, and reed stems; it also takes in gravel.

Breeding of the white-breasted waterhen

The breeding season of the white-breasted waterhen is from April to July. Eggs are laid from late May to early June, with 4 to 10 eggs per clutch, usually 5. The eggs are oval, light yellowish-brown, densely covered with dark yellowish-brown or purple spots that are more concentrated at the blunt end. The eggs measure about 42mm×38mm and weigh about 23.5g; the incubation period is 16 to 18 days, sometimes 20 days. Both sexes take turns incubating the eggs, feeding, and caring for the young. The chicks' down, beak, and legs are all black, and they are usually led in activity by the parent birds.