The Water Rail breeds in dense reed beds, swamp forest and other vegetation-rich wetlands. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure of reeds and grass, well concealed down in the dense vegetation just above the water surface. The female normally lays 6–11 eggs, and both parents take part in the incubation, which lasts about three weeks. The chicks are nest-leavers, clad in black down, and leave the nest soon after hatching to follow and be fed by the parents.