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Spotted Crakes are relatively small wetland birds. They have highly cryptic plumage. The two sexes look alike. Except for grey-brown ear coverts, the sides of the head are bluish-grey. The front is bluish-grey with dark grey-brown barring and white spots. The feathers on the back all have dark grey-brown fringes with dark-grey centres, leading to a highly camouflaged, scalloped appearance. The undertail is buff, with a whitish tip. The irises are dark-brown; the triangular bill has a red base and becomes progressively more orange/yellow towards the tip. Legs and feet are greyish-yellow. Juvenile/immature Spotted Crakes are similar to adults, except the blue-grey parts are still greyish-brown. As for all rails and crakes, the chicks are fluffy black.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Spotted Crake is available HERE .

Spotted Crakes are a strongly migratory species. Their breeding range extends from much of Europe (south of the latitude of Helsinki, Finland) eastward into western Russia and onward into central Asia. They overwinter in southern and eastern Africa, with smaller populations in the Nile delta and along the Moroccan coastline. Another population spends the northern winters in northern and north-western India and in parts of Pakistan. During their migration they can be found in between breeding grounds and winter quarters, e.g. around the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia Minor, parts of the Levant and in Arabia.

In Europe, Spotted Crakes are breeding migrants. Their breeding range in Europe encompasses suitable habitats from western Europe, including the British Isles, through central and into eastern and south-eastern Europe. While in the western part of their range the distribution is scattered, from the Baltic states eastward their distribution becomes more contiguous. During the time of dispersal they can be found in a more widespread area including parts of Scandinavia, much of Iberia and even Iceland. Some spend the winters on the northern Atlantic groups of islands off the coast of Africa.

Spotted Crakes have a preference for swamps, sedge bogs and meadows with tall tussocks around lakes and along rivers. They avoid reeds.

A. Sarok reports finding Spotted Crakes in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by A. Sarok.