Black Crake ( Amaurornis flavirostris, family: Rallidae)

black crake kruger national park birds The Black Crake (Latin name Amaurornis flavirostris) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 213 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 326 also a picture of the Black Crake on page 305. The Black Crake belongs to the family of birds classified as Rallidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Black Crake is also known by these other names: African Black Crake.

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 Black Crake is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

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

Kruger Park Black CrakeIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Black Crake is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Black Crake is about 23 cms and its weight is about 90 gms

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

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is red.
  • Bill is yellow.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are red.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Black Crake feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Black Crake is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Amaurornis flavirostris will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Black Crake is to create the nest on the ground or close to water. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Black Crake are: grasslands

You can expect to see Black Crake in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... umJekejeke/umJengejenge

Afrikaans ...Swartriethaan

German ... Mohrenralle, Negerralle

Portuguese ... Franga-d'gua-preta

French ... Rle bec jaune

Dutch ... Zwart Poseleinhoen

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 213

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