Spotted Crake
Porzana porzana
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Rails, Gallinules, and Coots (Rallidae)
- Order
- Gruiformes
Overview
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.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds British Isles (very locally) and Spain eastward across southern Scandinavia and northern Mediterranean to western and central Russia, Arabia, and northwestern Mongolia; winters Mediterranean to southern Africa and southeastern Asia.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Burundi
- Chad
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malawi
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Uzbekistan
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Spotted crake
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
