 The African crake ( Crex egregia ) is a bird in the rail family that breeds in most of sub @-@ Saharan Africa away from the arid south and southwest . It is seasonally common in most of its range other than the rainforests and areas that have low annual rainfall . This crake is a partial migrant , moving away from the equator to the north in the dry season . It is a rare vagrant to western Europe , and a rare but regular vagrant to North America .
There are two subspecies , the nominate Crex egregia that is found in the west and northwest and Crex egregia bangui that is