Amaurornis flavirostra
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) and HuttyMcphoo (photography) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The black crake (Zapornia flavirostra) is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae. It breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in very arid areas. It undertakes some seasonal movements in those parts of its range which are subject to drought. No subspecies have been described. It appears that the oldest available name for this species is actually Rallus niger J. F. Gmelin, 1788, but Swainson believed that the earlier name was unidentifiable, and his own has since become well embedded in the literature.
The adult black crake is 19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in) long with a short tail and long toes. As its name implies, the adult has mainly black plumage, with a brown olive tone on the wings and upperparts which is rarely detectable in the field. The eye is red, the bill is yellow (hence the flavirostra of the binomial name), and the legs and feet are red, duller when not breeding.
The sexes are similar, but the male is slightly larger. Most males, but only 10% of females, have a hooked upper mandible. The immature bird has brown upperparts and a dark grey head and underparts. Its bill is greenish yellow, and its feet and legs are dull red. The downy chicks are black...
Recording0:15
South Africa · 2025
© Malcolm Douglas · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:21
South Africa · 2023
© corky777 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:15
Gabon · 2021
© bureaubenjamin · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 6 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 7 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 8 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 9 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 10 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 5 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toledo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Franklin Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | Avifauna | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Landgoed Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 13 | Wolfgang-Köhler-Primaten-Forschungszentrum | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black Crake sighting in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, based on 91 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Black Crake in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, against about 50% in November to January, the lowest months. That is one of Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in August. May to October have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black 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 45 parks where we can rate Black Crake sightings, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 40%) and Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Rallidae
The closest relatives of the Black Crake that you can see in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (family Rallidae, Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) are Common Moorhen (about 70%), Western Swamphen (about 50%) and Allen's Gallinule (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Crake is recorded against all the birds logged in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (91 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.
