#0868 · 🐦 birds

Little Crake

🇳🇱 Klein Waterhoen ·Zapornia parva

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Erik Eckstein · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Tatyana Zarubo · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Tatyana Zarubo · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Adrien Mauss · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © swanand kesari · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Paul Cools · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. г. Геленджик, Краснодарский край, Россия:© egorbirder · CC BY 4.0
8. Šilutė District Municipality, Lithuania:© Miglė Montrimaitė · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Balatonmagyaród, 8753 Hungary:© György Bujárszki · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. Щекинский р-н, Тульская обл., Россия:© Пакалнис Дэниел · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The little crake ( Zapornia parva ) is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae. parva is Latin for "small". This species was long included in the genus Porzana .

base stats

NL sightings 9iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 1,229iNaturalist observations
weight 7.9 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 9 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
1,229 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs only about 8 g.
Scientifically named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769 (257 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Little Crake
Nederlands: Klein Waterhoen
scientific name: Zapornia parva
class: Aves
order: Gruiformes
family: Rallidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 9
sightings in Europe: 904
sightings worldwide: 1,229
GBIF records in NL: 0
weight: 7.9 g
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1769 by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Rallidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 508919, Wikidata Q270680, GBIF 9272513, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.