Spotted crake
Porzana porzana (Linnaeus, 1766)
The spotted crake (Porzana porzana) is a small bird in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. It is a migratory wetland bird that forages on the ground, classed as an aquatic predator with an omnivore trophic level.
Quick facts about the spotted crake
Adults weigh 87.1 g and have a wingspan of 38 cm. It lays 10.5 eggs per clutch, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 18.5 days, and its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.
- Weight
- 80 g – 87.1 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 19 cm – 22.5 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 38 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 7.17 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 18.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 9.8 – 10.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the spotted crake?
Photos of the spotted crake
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Where does the spotted crake live?
Not recorded
What is 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.
One confusion species is the sora, a rare vagrant from North America. However, that species lacks the breast spotting and has an unstreaked crown stripe.
These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and aquatic animals.
Spotted crakes are very secretive in the breeding season, and are then mostly heard rather than seen. They are then noisy birds, with a distinctive repetitive whiplash-like hwuit, hwuit call. They can be easier to see on migration.
The spotted crake is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The Western European population has declined in recent decades, and the species is now a very rare breeding bird in Great Britain.
From the Wikipedia article “Spotted crake” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_crake&oldid=1361298969), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the spotted crake sound like?
Is the spotted crake endangered?
The spotted crake is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the spotted crake classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusPorzana
- SpeciesPorzana porzana (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms Gallinula leucothorax, Gallinula porzana, Ortygometra maruetta, Porzana maruetta, Porzana maruetta var. maculipennis, Rallus porzana, Zapornia minuta
Other names and names in other languages (96)
- Gevlekte RiethaanAfrikaans
- مرعة رقطاءArabic
- المرعة الرقطاءArabic
- مرعة منقطةArabic
- Gallineta PintaAsturian
- gallineta pedresaAsturian
- Adi porzanAzerbaijani
- Звычайны пагонічBelarusian
- Пагоніч звычайныBelarusian
- Голяма пъструшкаBulgarian
- Rakig brizhellekBreton
- Polla pintadaCatalan
- polla pintada europeaCatalan
- Пӑнчӑллӑ шывавтаньChuvash
- chřástal kropenatýCzech
- rhegen fraithWelsh
- Rhegennod BrithWelsh
- plettet rørvagtelDanish
- TüpfelsumpfhuhnGerman
- PurzanònEmilian
- ΣτικτοπουλάδαGreek
- ΣτικτοπουλλάδαGreek
- punkta raloEsperanto
- Makula porzanoEsperanto
- Polluela pintojaSpanish
- Gallineta de Pecho AmarilloSpanish
- täpikhuikEstonian
- Uroilanda pikartBasque
- یلوه خالدارPersian
- luhtahuittiFinnish
- DøggsmettaFaroese
- Râle marouetteFrench
- Marouette ponctuéeFrench
- Gearr breacIrish
- Traon breacScottish Gaelic
- Traon bhreacScottish Gaelic
- Poliña pintaGalician
- Eean raip breckManx
- ברודית גדולהHebrew
- ברודית גדולה )פורצנה גדולה(Hebrew
- Rida ŠtijokaCroatian
- riđa štijokaCroatian
- pettyes vízicsibeHungarian
- Ճահճահովվիկ մեծArmenian
- Մեծ ճահճահովվիկArmenian
- DílarellaIcelandic
- voltolinoItalian
- コモンクイナJapanese
- ჭაობის ქათამურაGeorgian
- ТартарKazakh
- Crek brythCornish
- Katukutukukwn
- Getëppelt RallLuxembourgish
- ParzeläinshéngchenLuxembourgish
- švygždaLithuanian
- Balų vištaitėLithuanian
- paprastoji švygždaLithuanian
- ormanītisLatvian
- Голема мочуришкаMacedonian
- дамчеста барска кокошкаMacedonian
- പുള്ളി നെല്ലിക്കോഴിMalayalam
- Gallozz tat-TikkiMaltese
- Тоодон түнжүүрMongolian
- porseleinhoenDutch
- myrrikseNorwegian Nynorsk
- kropiatkaPolish
- franga-d'água-grandePortuguese
- franga-d'água-malhadaPortuguese
- franga-de-água-malhadaPortuguese
- Pulsauna da palìRomansh
- cresteţ pestriţRomanian
- Cresteț pestrițRomanian
- ПогонышRussian
- обыкновенный погонышRussian
- JeaggevuonccisNorthern Sami
- chriašť bodkovanýSlovak
- Chriašteľ bodkovanýSlovak
- grahasta tukalicaSlovenian
- porzana pikalosheAlbanian
- Barski petlićSerbian
- Барски петлићSerbian
- Barski petlić - Барски петличSerbian
- småfläckig sumphönaSwedish
- Kiluwiri MadoaSwahili
- นกอัญชันเล็กลายจุดThai
- นกกระเรียนพันธุ์ยุโรปThai
- benekli su tavuguTurkish
- benekli su tavuğuTurkish
- Benekli SuyelvesiTurkish
- СүрүкчүTuvinian
- Звичайний погоничUkrainian
- Погонич звичайнийUkrainian
- GiraldinaVenetian
- 斑胸田雞Chinese
- 斑胸田鸡Chinese
- 斑胸秧雞Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spotted crake
Other species in the same genus Porzana.
CompareSpotted crake vs SoraSpotted crake vs Australian crakeSpotted crake vs Porzana payevskyiSpotted crake vs Lesser bermuda crake
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the spotted crake?
The spotted crake is a bird in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. It is a small, migratory species.
How heavy is the spotted crake?
An adult spotted crake weighs 87.1 g, and its wingspan is 38 cm.
What does the spotted crake eat?
The spotted crake is classed as an aquatic predator, and its trophic level is omnivore.
What habitat does the spotted crake live in?
The spotted crake lives in wetland habitat and forages on the ground.
Is the spotted crake endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the spotted crake live?
Sources give a lifespan of 7.2 years for the spotted crake.
How many eggs does the spotted crake lay?
The spotted crake lays 10.5 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 18.5 days.
Who named the spotted crake?
The spotted crake, Porzana porzana, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1766).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spotted crake (Porzana porzana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-crake
“Spotted crake (Porzana porzana).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-crake.
@misc{spotted_crake_2026,
title = {Spotted crake (Porzana porzana)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-crake},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}