Erythra phoenicura The white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia.

They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads.

[2] Adult white-breasted waterhens have mainly dark grey upperparts and flanks, and a white face, neck and breast.

The nominate subspecies is described from Sri Lanka but is often widened to include chinensis of mainland India and adjoining regions in Asia, west to Arabia and east nearly to Japan.

[9] These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs as they forage slowly along the edge of a waterbody mainly on the ground but sometimes clambering up low vegetation.

They mainly eat insects (large numbers of beetles have been recorded[9]), small fish (which are often carefully washed in water), aquatic invertebrates and grains or seeds such as those of Pithecolobium dulce.

[9] Local names of this bird are often formed by onomatopoeia (based on the sound it makes), for example ruak-ruak in Malay and korawakka (කොරවක්කා) in Sinhala.

;[18] although differently formed local names are also not uncommon, such as "Dahuk" in Bengali (used in Bangladesh and the Bengali-speaking areas of India), "Dauk" (ডাউক) in Assamese, "Gur-gu-aa" in Boro, "Vo-kurwak" in Karbi, and "Keruwak" in Iban and Sarawakian Malay.

[21] The naturalist writer Eha humorously describes the call of this species:[22] "It began with loud harsh roars which might have been elicited from a bear by roasting it slowly over a large fire, then suddenly changed to a clear note repeated like the coo of a dove."