Amaurornis flavirostris
Gruiformes - Rallidae - Rails, moorhens & coots
© Joe Barkowski
Distribution: Sub Saharan Africa, from north edge of Shahel zone south to Cape.
Habitat: Freshwater wetland. Inhabits rank grass, sedges, reedbeds, swampy thickets; occurs in dense undergrowth of boggy clearings in forest.
Diet: Worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, small fish, small frogs and tadpoles. Eggs and nestlings.
Breeding: Nest is a deep, bulky bowl of reeds, sedges, creepers, grasses; placed in vegetation over water with rim 20-50cm above water; also nest on ground or in grass tussock near water. Both sexes build nest.
Clutch size: 2 - 6 eggs (usually 3) - laid at dailt intervals
Incubation: 13 - 19 days, incubated by both parents
Rearing: Chicks leave nest 1-3 days after hatching; fed and cared for by parents, helped by young of previous broods, for at least 3-6 weeks
Fledge age: Fly at 5-6 weeks
Maturity: 1 year
View Sedgwick County Zoo protocol file >
Protocol established 2006
Used on 14 individuals
Success rate 100.00%
Rating
Protocol used for at least 5 individuals with over 75% success | * |
Used by 2 or more institutions | |
Points on minimizing imprinting | |
Birds went on to produce fertile eggs | * |
Birds went on to successfully parent rear |
Warning points
None
Please keep us up-to-date and contact us with your own updates or new protocols for rearing the Black Crake.
Del Hoya, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. (1996). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.