# Corn crake (*Crex crex*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/corn-crake  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The corn crake (Crex crex), also called Corncrake or Land rail, is a small bird in the family Rallidae of the order Gruiformes. It is a migratory, terrestrial omnivore of grassland, with an adult body mass from 142 to 169 g and a wingspan of 50 cm. It lays 1 clutch per year of 10 eggs, which are incubated for 17.5 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 363.5 days. The IUCN Red List assesses the corn crake globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 142 g – 169 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 50 cm |
| Lifespan | 5.83 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 17.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 10 |
| Age at maturity | 11.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Gruiformes
- family: Rallidae
- genus: Crex
- species: *Crex crex* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Crex crepitans*, *Crex pratensis*, *Crex pratensis similis*, *Crex strepera*, *Gallinula crex*, *Rallus crex*, *Rallus featherstonii*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the corn crake?

The corn crake is a small bird in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. It is migratory and terrestrial.

### How heavy is the corn crake?

Adult Corn crakes weigh from 142 to 169 g, with a representative value of 154.9 g. Its wingspan is 50 cm.

### What does the corn crake eat?

The corn crake is an omnivore.

### What habitat does the corn crake live in?

The corn crake lives in grassland, where it forages on the ground.

### Is the corn crake endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does the corn crake lay?

The corn crake lays 10 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 17.5 days.

### How long does the corn crake live?

The lifespan given for the corn crake is 5.8 years. It reaches sexual maturity at 363.5 days.

### Who named the corn crake?

The corn crake was named Crex crex by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Corn crake (Crex crex). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/corn-crake