African Crake - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

The African Crake occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Kenya and south to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, except in arid areas of south and southwest Africa where the annual summer rainfall is less than 300 mm (11.8 in). It is widespread and locally common in most of its range, apart from the rainforests and the drier regions. Nearly all the South Africa population of about 8,000 birds occur in KwaZulu-Natal and the former Transvaal Province, and much good habitat is protected in the Kruger National Park and iSimangaliso Wetland Park. This crake is only a vagrant to southern Mauritania, southwest Niger, Lesotho, South Africa's northern and eastern Cape Province and North West Province, and southern Botswana. Further afield, it is rare on Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea), and there have been two records each for Sao Tome and Tenerife, the Canary Islands birds being the first records for the Western Palaeartic. Holocene remains from North Africa suggest that the species may have been more widespread when the climate was wetter in what is now the Sahara.

This crake is a partial migrant, but although it is less skulking than many of its relatives, its movements are complex and poorly studied; the distribution map is therefore largely hypothetical. It is mainly a wet-season breeder, and many birds move away from the equator as soon as the rains provide sufficient grass cover to allow them to breed elsewhere. Southward movement is mainly from November to April, the return north beginning when burning or drought reduces the grass cover again. This species is present throughout the year in some West African countries, and in equatorial regions, but even in those areas numbers vary seasonally due to local movements; north-south migration has been noted within countries including Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Migration takes place at night and involves small groups of up to eight birds; It may be one or two months after the rains begin before the grass is sufficiently high for breeding birds to arrive. Even in southern Africa, some birds may stay after breeding if enough usable habitat remains.

The habitat is predominantly grassland, ranging from wetland edges and seasonal floodlands to savanna, lightly wooded dry grassland, and grassy forest clearings. The crake also frequents maize, rice and cotton crops, derelict farmland and sugarcane plantations close to water. A wide range of grass species are used, with a preferred height of 0.3–1 m (1– 3 ft) tall but vegetation is acceptable up to 2 m (6 ft) tall. It normally prefers moister and shorter grassland habitats than does the Corn Crake, and its breeding territories often contain or are close to thickets or termite mounds. It occurs from sea level to 2,000 m (6,500 ft) but is rare in the higher altitude grasslands. Its grassland habitat is frequently burned in the dry season, forcing the birds to move elsewhere. In an East African study, the average area occupied by one bird was 2.6 ha (6.4 acres) when breeding, and 1.97 to 2.73 ha (4.9–6.75 acres) at other times. The highest densities occur in lush or moist grassland such as the Okavango Delta.