Spotted crake: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the spotted crake lives – recorded in 30 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Porzana porzana
Group	Herons, storks, cranes & flamingos
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	30 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe
Mass	10.9 g (birth weight); 80 g (adult weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Gruiformes
Family	Rallidae

Where does the spotted crake live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the spotted crake in 30 countries and territories across Africa, Asia and Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa, Burkina Faso.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a spotted crake?

Wikidata records the following for the spotted crake: mass 10.9 g (birth weight); 80 g (adult weight).

Is the spotted crake endangered?

The spotted crake’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the spotted crake?

The spotted crake (Porzana porzana) is a bird in the order Gruiformes and the family Rallidae, genus Porzana. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the spotted crake

The spotted crake (Porzana porzana) is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails.

The spotted crake's breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into western Asia. They nest in a dry location in marsh vegetation, laying 6–15 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in Africa and Pakistan.

At 19–22.5 cm (7.5–8.9 in) length, spotted crakes are slightly smaller than water rails, from which they are readily distinguished by the short straight bill, yellow with a red base. Adults have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey breast, with dark barring and white spots on the flanks. They have green legs with long toes, and a short tail which is buff underneath.

Immature spotted crakes are similar, but the blue-grey is replaced by brown. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Spotted crake (revision 1361298969), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q194024 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).