Crecopsis egregia (African crake)

The African Crake (Latin name Crecopsis egregia) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 212 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 324 also a picture of the African Crake on page 320. The African Crake belongs to the family of birds classified as Rallidae.

The Robert's 7 Latin name for African Crake has changed from Crex egregia in Robert's 6 to Crecopsis egregia

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The African Crake is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a rare summer resident

In terms of distribution of the African Crake in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Crake : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The African Crake is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the African Crake is about 23 cms and its weight is about 120 gms

The male and female African Crake have the same plumage and colours

* Head is black.
* Eye is brown.
* Bill is grey.
* Throat is white.
* Back is black, white.
* Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Crake feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Crake is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Crecopsis egregia will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Crake is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are pink in colour and number between 2 to 8
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Crake are: grasslands

You can expect to see African Crake in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Afrikaanse Riethaan

German ... Steppenralle

Portuguese ... Codornizo-africano

French ... Rle des prs

Dutch ... 0

First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list

For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 212

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za