So shy and so elusive, this bird, like the marsh crake, is so seldom seen that its existence is hardly acknowledged. Certainly it is only recently that I have seen these birds and having learned that the place to look for them is in and around raupo, typha muelleri, dominated swamps or wetlands. Indeed, any quite small patch of raupo more than likely will harbour these birds. They are seldom found in flax dominated wetlands.
Spotless crake are more often heard than seen and have a wide variety of calls which are usually heard at dawn and dusk. There are sharp ‘pit–pit’ calls, a single or repeated ‘book’ and a distinctive rolling ‘purr’ call like an alarm clock going off and gradually running down.
plumbea is the subspecies of Australia and New Zealand and the nominate tabuensis the subspecies of the Philippines, Moluccas, New Guinea, Micronesia, Melanesnia and south western Polynesia.
