Porzana pusilla
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) and HuttyMcphoo (photography) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Baillon's crake (Zapornia pusilla), also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Their breeding habitat is sedge beds and swamps, ranging from Eastern Europe to Honshu in Japan. The total breeding population in Europe as of 2016 was suspected to be 4,000 to 9,000 individuals. They used to breed in Great Britain up to the mid-19th century, but the Hungarian population declined in the 20th century due to wetland drainage. There has been a recovery in north-western Europe in recent years, with the recolonisation of Germany and the Netherlands, and breeding suspected in Britain; an Irish record in 2012 was the first there since the 1850s. They nest in dry locations in wet sedge bogs, laying 4–8 eggs. This species is migratory, wintering in East Africa and South Asia, as well as being a resident breeder in Africa and Australasia.
There is a single North American record of this species on Attu Island in September 2000. There are at least five subspecies of Baillon's crake: Zapornia pusilla affinis in New Zealand Zapornia pusilla palustris in Australia and New Guinea
Zapornia pusilla mira in Borneo Zapornia pusilla intermedia... Wikipedia →
Recording2:39
Russia · 2021
© Pavel Shukov · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:35
Italy · 2024
© mauro_fioretto · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:19
Russia · 2022
© Yaroslav Magazov · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Wuhan | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 8 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Mumbai | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Baillon's Crake sighting in Amboseli National Park on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 207th most-seen of the 362 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Baillon's Crake in Amboseli National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to March, the lowest months. That is one of Amboseli National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 10 mm in July.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Baillon's Crake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Baillon's Crake sightings, Amboseli National Park has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Fiordland National Park (New Zealand, under 5%) and Grampians National Park (Australia, under 5%).
Same family: Rallidae
The closest relatives of the Baillon's Crake that you can see in Amboseli National Park (family Rallidae, Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) are Red-knobbed Coot (about 30%), Black Crake (about 20%) and Common Moorhen (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Baillon's Crake is recorded against all the birds logged in Amboseli National Park (42 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
