This species inhabits all kinds of permanent wetland sites (Jennings 2010). It particularly prefers freshwater marshy pools and lakes with abundant vegetation cover along the borders, floating and emergent vegetation, dense reeds and wet bushy areas near watercourses offering abundant hiding places (Richardson 1990, Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011, R. Khan pers. comm.). Occasionally, it occurs in eutrophic water near dump sites, in saline habitats or mangroves. Recently, populations became established in artificial waterbodies (S. Alam (Dubai Municipality) pers. comm. 2019, R. Khan (Dubai Safari, Dubai Municipality) pers. comm. 2019). When foraging, it may venture into open water or dry habitats, such as crop fields and gardens near wetlands (Jennings 2010). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere it is omnivorous and opportunistic, its diet consisting of earthworms, crustaceans, molluscs, insects, spiders, small fish, tadpoles and occasionally birds eggs, as well as plant matter such as filamentous algae, moss and the vegetative parts of reeds and aquatic plants, as well as berries and fruits (del Hoyo et al. 1996). While the species forms small flocks during the non-breeding season, it becomes territorial and aggressive with the onset of the breeding season in early spring. The breeding season is very long; eggs have been recorded from January in the UAE until August on the Saudi Arabian coast of the Arabian Gulf, the majority of chicks have been observed between April and July (Jennings 2010). The nest is a bulky cup constructed from twigs and waterside vegetation, which is placed on floating or partially submerged objects on water, in reed beds or adjacent to water (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Jennings 2010). Clutches contain around eight, seldom up to 13 eggs (Jennings 2010). Part of the population in the UAE is migratory; individuals breed from eastern Europe to central Asia and move south towards the UAE or from September to December and return again from March to May (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Jennings 2010).