What is a spotted crake? What does it sound like? Where can you go to see them? In this BBC Countryfile Magazine guide we take a closer look at these rare birds.

By Dominic Couzens

Published: Wednesday, 08 February 2023 at 12:00 am

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You can be forgiven for not even having heard of the spotted crake. There is probably no regular species so absent from the British bird conversation, with good reason.

For a start, it is vanishingly rare, with fewer than 25 singing males recorded each year.

Secondly, it is highly erratic in its appearances, being slightly more numerous in some years than others, and having a habit of turning up in places and then vanishing again.

And thirdly, even if present, you won’t see it anyway, hidden away as it is in large freshwater marshes. It was once much commoner in Britain, but now is a peripheral member of our fauna.

In this guide, we take a closer look at the spotted crake, revealing what they look like and sound like, where they live and what family of birds they belong to.

Interested in learning more about British wildlife? Check out our guides to ducks, wading birds and reptiles.

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What is a spotted crake?

The spotted crake – Porzana porzana – is a small member of the rail family, measuring 19-22cm in size.

Once in view, you can see how diminutive this bird is, not much bigger than a starling.

The short bill distinguishes it from a water rail, and given half a chance, you might notice the richly speckled plumage.

The female lays about 10 eggs.

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Spotted crake call

The spotted crake makes a fantastic, evocative sound, often described as a whiplash but, if it is, it is a rather squelchy one. At any rate, the sound could be rendered “wet-wet-wet…”, which helps if you are partial to 1980s-90s culture. This is the male’s song and, if it is successful in luring a mate, it will stop singing instantly. So, even where spotted crakes occur, they might only sing on a few nights each year.

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Spotted crake habitat

The spotted crake hides away in large freshwater marshes.

Despite everything, it is possible to find a spotted crake in Britain. Every autumn, the European population migrates to Africa, south of the Sahara. Many continental juveniles pass through Britain and may be seen at the edges reedbeds in August and September.

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Spotted crake distribution

Spotted crake are very rare, appearing on the Amber List of Species of Conservation Concern. There are 25 breeding pairs in the UK (0 in winter).

It was once much commoner in Britain, but now is a peripheral member of our fauna. Only in the Cambridgeshire fens and Central Scotland does it appear consistently.

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Spotted crake video

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