- Zapornia flavirostra
Amaurornis flavirostra
Identification
- 19–23 cm
- Plumage mainly black
- Brown/olive tinge on the wings and upperparts
- Red eye
- Yellow bill
- Feet & legs red (duller when not breeding)
Sexes similar, though male is larger
Immatures
- Brown upperparts
- Dark grey head and underparts
- Greeny- yellow bill
- Dull red feet and legs.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini
Taxonomy
A monotypic species[1].
Placed in genus Amaurornis by IOC.
Habitat
Fresh water marshes with a thick cover of reeds and other aquatic vegetation.
Behaviour
This species will perch on hippopotamuses and warthogs and remove parasites.
Breeding
Both sexes build the deep neat bowl nest from wetland plants, placed in marsh vegetation or on the ground in a dry location. Two to six cream or white eggs, spotted with brown or chestnut, are laid. They are sometimes assisted by the young from previous broods, incubation 13–19 days.
Diet
The diet includes invertebrates, small fish, frogs and seeds; it will take the eggs of birds and scavenge on carcasses. It will forage on the ground or climb reeds to find prey including flying insects.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black Crake. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Crake
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
