[2] Gmelin's account is taken from that of the "Tabuan rail" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds.

[3] Latham's description was probably based on a plate painted by the German naturalist Georg Forster who had accompanied the British explorer James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

[8] Spotless crake lack any obvious sexual dimorphism, making it difficult to distinguish between male and female.

[9] The juvenile is similar to the adult, but its colouring is duller over the whole body, and is paler and browner than the mature crake.

Originally, seven separate calls of the spotless crake were detected, including a bubbling sound, a sharp, high pitched ‘pit-pit’, a ‘mook’ sound which varies in loudness and pitch, and a loud ‘purring’ call.

Fossils of the spotless crake from the Holocene period have also been found on the mainland, as well as the Chatham Islands.

Another reason may be that spotless crakes are not as tolerant of the colder climates of the South Island, being mainly found in warmer coastal localities.

Their preferred habitat is wetland and swamp areas that contain dense vegetation in which to build their nests from.

[14] Although raupo tends to be the preferred habitat for spotless crake, they have also been found in swamp areas composed of flax (Phormium tenax), tussock sedge (Carex secta), and cabbage tree (Cordyline australis).

[14] Determining the sexual behaviour of spotless crake is difficult due to their shy nature and dense vegetation which restricts observations.

Kaufmann [9] observed the mating of spotless crakes at Pukepuke Lagoon where the male and female circled a patch of tussock sedge (C. secta) then stood on it.

[14][9] They usually breed in large, dense, and tall stands of reeds, rushes, sedges, and grass tussocks.

[11] Other threats to spotless crake are the clearance of habitat, such as swamp draining and clearing for agriculture which mainly took place when Europeans arrived.