The Australian crake , also known as Australian spotted crake, or spotted crake is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is the only species of Australian crake in the genus Porzana.
Region
Australia
Typical Environment
Occupies freshwater and brackish wetlands with dense emergent vegetation, including reedbeds, sedgelands, lignum swamps, and samphire saltmarsh. It also uses artificial habitats such as rice fields, irrigation channels, stormwater ponds, and sewage lagoons. Typically forages along shallow margins, mudflats, and among floating vegetation, avoiding open water. Presence can be patchy and tied to recent rainfall and flooding, with birds shifting to newly inundated sites.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the Australasian or Australian spotted crake, this small rail is notoriously skulking, slipping through dense reeds and rushes at the water’s edge. It was formerly placed in the genus Porzana (as Porzana fluminea). It often responds to high water or drought by moving locally and can appear suddenly at newly flooded wetlands. Despite being widespread, it is easily overlooked due to its secretive habits.
![Australian crake (far right). 1891 lithograph by Gracius Broinowski.[5]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Australian_crake_%28far_right%29.png/640px-Australian_crake_%28far_right%29.png)
Australian crake (far right). 1891 lithograph by Gracius Broinowski.[5]
![Australian crake distribution.[15]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Australian_crake_distribution.png/480px-Australian_crake_distribution.png)
Australian crake distribution.[15]
Temperament
secretive and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, low fluttering flights over vegetation
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, becoming more conspicuous during the breeding season. Pairs nest in dense cover close to water, building a concealed cup from grasses and reeds. Both sexes incubate and tend the chicks, which are precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations include sharp ticking notes, soft trills, and harsh rattles delivered from cover, especially at dawn and dusk. Calls can be repetitive and ventriloquial, making the bird seem farther away. Occasionally gives a series of accelerating clicks during territorial exchanges.
Plumage
Upperparts brown to olive-brown with fine white spotting; face and breast slaty-blue to grey; flanks boldly barred black and white; undertail coverts whitish. Feathers appear slightly glossy in good light, with crisp spotting on the wings and mantle.
Diet
Takes aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects, spiders, snails, and small crustaceans. Also consumes seeds and green parts of aquatic plants and algae. Will probe soft mud and pick prey from the water surface or vegetation, sometimes turning floating debris to find hidden items.
Preferred Environment
Forages along shallow edges of wetlands, in muddy margins, among reeds and sedges, and on mats of floating vegetation. Readily uses man-made wetlands and rice fields where cover is available.
