Corn crake

Crex crex

A secretive rail of tall grasslands, more often heard at night giving a dry two-note call than seen.

Key facts

Corn crake (Crex crex) is an omnivore animal classified as Bird · Gruiformes · Rallidae.
Primary habitats are grassland · freshwater, with a range across Palearctic · Afrotropical.
Activity is nocturnal, sociality is solitary, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A secretive rail of tall grasslands, more often heard at night giving a dry two-note call than seen.
Uses damp grassland, meadows, hayfields, riverside grass, and wintering savanna or farmland.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Uses damp grassland, meadows, hayfields, riverside grass, and wintering savanna or farmland.

Brown plumage with dark markings, a gray face, and rufous wings are visible when it emerges from grass.

It walks through dense vegetation and rarely flies. Males call loudly at night to advertise territories.

Insects, earthworms, spiders, seeds, and shoots are picked from the ground and grass bases.

Hidden ground nests are placed in grassland, where early mowing can destroy eggs and chicks.

It declined sharply in parts of Europe, but delayed mowing and grassland management have helped some populations.