Baillon's Crake

Baillon's Crake

Porzana pusilla

Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) and HuttyMcphoo (photography) · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Kochi

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

94 Verified sightings at Kochi
112 In all 5 parks From 2019 to 2026
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Baillon's Crake

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 →

Sounds

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

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
2 Fiordland National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
<5%
3 Grampians National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
4 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
5 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Vasai-Virar 🇮🇳 India
~10%
2 Mombasa 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
3 Cape Town 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
4 Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
5 Coimbatore 🇮🇳 India
<5%
6 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
<5%
7 Wuhan 🇨🇳 China
<5%
8 Melbourne 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
9 Kozhikode 🇮🇳 India
<5%
10 Mumbai 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Baillon's Crake in Kochi?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Baillon's Crake sighting in Kochi on a given day, based on 94 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 139th most-seen of the 235 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Baillon's Crake in Kochi?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Baillon's Crake in Kochi on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Baillon's Crake?

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.

Is Kochi the best place to see a Baillon's Crake?

6th of 20

Of the 20 cities where we can rate Baillon's Crake sightings, Kochi ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Vasai-Virar (India, about 10%), Mombasa (Kenya, under 5%) and Cape Town (South Africa, under 5%).

Where does the Baillon's Crake sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Baillon's Crake is recorded against all the birds logged in Kochi (94 verified sightings), 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.

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