Downy Crake

downy crake
Location Ancient Forest
Wildspire Waste
Coral Highlands
Type Unclassified

Downy Crake is an Endemic Life creature in Monster Hunter World (MHW). These animals are found out in the field, and can be captured by dedicated Hunters looking to research the New World.

 

You caught a Downy Crake!? They've been seen on the backs of monsters before, but you're the first person EVER to catch one!

Downy Crake Location

You can find Downy Crake in:

  • Ancient Forest, sector 1 and 8 on the back of Aptonoth
  • Wildspire Waste, sector 1, 4 and 8 on the back of Apceros
  • Coral Highlands, sector 11, 13, on the back of Grandfather Mantagrell
  • They rarely spawn as a group on top of a random aptonoth or apceros. They like to appear when their host isn't on your screen so look away and listen until you hear their chirping. Use the Ghillie Mantle and crouching to ensure they don't flee as you get close, and/or use a flash pod to stun them. It's possible to catch more than one in one net throw. Reports suggest they are more likely to spawn during dawn and day, (though they can spawn no matter the time or type of weather).

 

Downy Crake Capturing Rewards

You can capture Downy Crake by using the infinite item "capture net" then aiming for the creature with the control's trigger and pressing Square on your controller when the outline of the frame turns orange.

  • House placing: Carpet, Floor, Hearth, Pot, Garden
  • Other rewards: 200 RP, Snuggles for All Medal (Capture a fluffy, snuggly creature.)

 

Downy Crake Notes

  • Target of the Research Help: Phantom Bird critical bounty in the Ancient Forest, need to capture 1 of them after receiving the bounty.
  • In the event quest Skyward Snipers, a pack of them are guaranteed to spawn atop a Grandfather Mantagrell in Area 12.
  • Sizes: ♕ 27.53 ~ ♕ 40.95

 downy crake riding grandfather mantagrell

 

Endemic Life
Andangler  ♦  Arrowhead Gekko  ♦  Augurfly  ♦  Blissbill  ♦  Blue Diva  ♦  Bomb Arowana  ♦  Bomb Beetle  ♦  Bristly Crake  ♦  Burst Arowana  ♦  Cactuar  ♦  Cactuar Cutting  ♦  Carrier Ant  ♦  Climbing Joyperch  ♦  Cobalt Flutterfly  ♦  Copper Calappa  ♦  Crowned Prawn  ♦  Dapper Coralbird  ♦  Duffel Penguin  ♦  Dung Beetle  ♦  Elegant Coralbird  ♦  Emerald Helmcrab  ♦  Emperor Hopper  ♦  Flashfly  ♦  Flowering Cactuar Cutting  ♦  Fluffy Moly  ♦  Flying Meduso  ♦  Forest Gekko  ♦  Forest Pteryx  ♦  Giant Vigorwasp  ♦  Glass Parexus  ♦  Gloom Gekko  ♦  Gold Calappa  ♦  Gold Helmcrab  ♦  Gold Hercudrome  ♦  Gold Scalebat  ♦  Golden Helmcrab  ♦  Goldenfish  ♦  Goldenfry  ♦  Goldspring Macaque  ♦  Grandfather Mantagrell  ♦  Great Goldenfish  ♦  Great King Marlin  ♦  Gunpowderfish  ♦  Hercudrome  ♦  Hopguppy  ♦  Iron Helmcrab  ♦  Moly  ♦  Moon Slug  ♦  Moonlight Gekko  ♦  Mossy Moly  ♦  Nekker  ♦  Nitrotoad  ♦  Omenfly  ♦  Paratoad  ♦  Pearlspring Macaque  ♦  Petricanths  ♦  Phantom Flutterfly  ♦  Pilot Hare  ♦  Pink Parexus  ♦  Platinumfish  ♦  Prism Hercudrome  ♦  Revolture  ♦  Rime Beetle  ♦  Rocky Moly  ♦  Rowdy Moly  ♦  Scalebat  ♦  Scavantula  ♦  Sealord's Crestfish  ♦  Shepherd Hare  ♦  Shiny Gold Helmcrab  ♦  Sleeptoad  ♦  Soldier Helmcrab  ♦  Stonebill  ♦  Sushifish  ♦  Tsuchinoko  ♦  Tyrant Hopper  ♦  Vaporonoid  ♦  Vigorwasp  ♦  Whetfish  ♦  Wiggler  ♦  Wiggler Queen  ♦  Wildspire Gekko  ♦  Wintermoon Nettle  ♦  Woodland Pteryx



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    • Anonymous

      I tried finding them in expedition for an hour without even a glance of them. Decided to try the event quest and caught them first try. If you have iceborne just make use of the guaranteed spawn.

      • Anonymous

        I can't find it for the life of me. I've eaten feline zoomaster, it's daytime, the endemic researcher has spawned, and I don't look at the apotonaths for a while - nothing. at all. I'm crouched with a guillie suit, 2hrs later....... brutal

        • Anonymous

          Ok, this seriously worked, so well I'm sure it's how they meant it to be. I imagine the turning away with the host offscreen works too. But I was literally staring straight at an aptonoth. Noticed soone Jagras tracks, so... I opened my journal, just to see if it was the one I captured already or not. When I closed my journal, the ORIGINALLY EMPTY aptonoth that I was starting at when I opened my journal had not had time to move and NOW had a line of 7 birds on it.

          • Anonymous

            about the skywards snipers thing, yeah it is true. first you go to area 15, and then go back down thru the climbing path with a ghillie mantle, you can see some Mantagress cruising around with the damn birds on their backs, specially on area 13... however. i'm yet to find a way to capture them as they just spread way too far when you flash pod them, and being white it doesn't help

            • Anonymous

              I swear I saw one riding on a pigs back in Rotted Vale, unless there is some similar bird. Couldn't catch it as I was crawling through a tunnel and it flew off. Never saw it again.

              • Anonymous

                The skyward snipers trick is total BS. I started it twice and got no spawns either time. Plus, I would assume they fly off after you knock a mantagrell out of the sky so i don't know how this is supposed to help anyway.

                • Anonymous

                  in the quest "skyward snipers" you can knock down the grandfather mantagrell with a rock and if you are fast enough you can capture the grounded birds befoer they leave.

                  • Anonymous

                    Quick guide to catch the Downy Crake, thanks to "HeyOverHere" from a comment to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_aa3DIXolM


                    Just to clear up and explain how to catch a Downy Crake for y'all, since there's nothing else here.

                    Downy Crakes typically spawn in the Day/Dawn, but make sure there is no disruptions in the weather (eg. Vaal Hazak) for the best chances.



                    Preparation:
                    - First thing you do before you go into an expedition: Eat the Open Road platter in the canteen to slightly increase your chances for the Downy Crake to spawn.
                    - Bring a Ghille Mantle. You'll need it.
                    - Make sure it's Day/Dawn for the best chances. Go for Ancient Forest's first camp. Otherwise, go to the Wildspire Waste's first camp, where you could also potentially find them as well.


                    Step-by-step:
                    1. Upon landing with your wingdrake, do not move. Listen to a unique chirp, as heard in this video. 0:06
                    2. If nothing is heard within the first 10 seconds, move onto the Wildspire Waste's first camp, and repeat the same thing as step 1. Repeat the process until you hear a chirping sound.
                    3. Wear your Ghille Mantle. Go towards the pack of Aptonoths, but keep a bit of a distance from them.
                    4. Look away while keeping your distance. Do try to move around the Aptonoths a bit. If you hear the unique chirping sound again, look back.
                    5. There should be your Downy Crakes. Equip your capture net, and ta-da, you got them. You should be able to catch a few of them in 1 go.

                    • Anonymous

                      I was able to find them at sector 8 in high rank ancient forest during day after waiting for so long at sector 1.

                      • Anonymous

                        whoever added "In the event quest Skyward Snipers, a pack of them are guaranteed to spawn atop a Grandfather Mantagrell in Area 12." bless you

                        • Anonymous

                          I tried to get this creature to spawn every way I could. Finally realized one must complete all the endemic life researcher tasks first, AND then make sure the location you are choosing to capture it also has the endemic researcher there. She has 5 tasks to do first and they are all easy. Go to gateway to open map to leave on an expedition and then hover over each location until you find one that has the endemic life. Simply go talk to her and complete her task. Look up each one if you have to. Just remember when you’re done with her tasks and she finally gives you the bounty to capture the Phantom Bird, you’ll have to go in and out of expeditions until she is actually at whatever location you are going to hunt them at. I chose Wildspire Waste, but I know they spawn other places.

                          • Anonymous

                            I was able to find some of these little guys on Aptonoths backs in area 1. I do it every time I get the chance to make sure thre strategy works, and it does. It only works in High Rank and so far I’ve only done in one expeditions. What you have to do is have your Ghillie Mantle with you and don it as soon as you get into Area 1. Go to the bushes (The ones you hide in) next to the ledge that’s close to the other that has Shepherd Hares and face away from the aptonoth, and after a few moments you will hear chirps of the Downy Crake. Be slow in your approach and make sure you’re close to them when you shoot your Capture Net. You’ll very likely succeed if you do it correctly.

                            • Anonymous

                              There seems to be a 100% spawn rate in Skywards Snipers, the MR quest where you need 5 grandfather mantagrells. It took me a while to see them, but once I did I decided to try this quest again. In the run immediately after that one, I found THREE different mantagrells with birds on back (or maybe they were only two, didn't manage to catch the first), each with what might've been six of those birds. I got five before they scrambled off. I was using Zoomaster, FWIW. Final time was about 13 minutes.

                              • Anonymous

                                I had no idea they could spawn on the back of Grandfather Mantagrells! I found some on 2 occasions in the Wildspire Waste during the day on the Apceros. One was accidental on an expedition, whilst the second group were found during the Diablos quest in the base story. Good luck finding them, would definitely recommend the Zoomaster skill from the Canteen!

                                • Anonymous

                                  I found them on two different occasions on the Low rank optional quest 'Royal Relocation' on the back of an apothos whatever, had the ghillie suit and it was during the day. out of 5 attempts, 2 showed them on the back of the armadillo creatures at area 1, and area 8 of wildspire waste

                                  • Anonymous

                                    I used the camera trick to find a flock in Wildspire Waste. Ran up to the three apceros just outside of the camp, with my gillie suit on, and spun the camera around a couple times. The flock was there after the second spin (which was probably pretty lucky). Good luck!

                                    • Anonymous

                                      Much easier to find now with Felyne Zoomaster to boost the spawn rates. Ancient forest during the day is the best bet as the aptonoth herd is huge. I found mine after getting ready to give up. Turned my camera to the left and there was a flock just staring into my face on top of a baby aptonoth. I'm pretty darn sure now that the camera trick works.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        Dear Crapcom. ***** You for making me not play your game for four hours waiting in hopes that some moronicly designed piece of horsecrap RNG will spawn. Still hasn't spawned.

                                        • Anonymous

                                          I hate my life. Spent a whole day just waiting trying every waiting tactic to get them and then as I was walking to kill diablos there they were. Went randomly walking and found them 4 times in a row. RNGesus is mean

                                          • Anonymous

                                            Found them while hunting Legiana in Coral High. Area near 2nd camp. Just heard and saw white chicks and tot to capture them then PS reminded me of a trophy. :D

                                            • Anonymous

                                              The easiest way to get them is during the HR 3 quest "Gettin' Yolked in the Waste". Go to the location with the eggs where 3 Apceros are waiting. Put on your ghille mantle and face the wall while crouching(Don't look at the Apceros!). Then you just wait until you start hearing them chirp, which will indicate that they have spawned and can be captured. I recommend you do other stuff while waiting(In real life) since this can take a while depending on your luck, increase the sound on your tv and browse reddit/youtube or something. Alternatively you can just keep switching between ancient forest and wildspire waste and look at the Aptonoth's and Apceros, though I would only recommend this if you have a fast pc. Doing this method on consoles can take forever due to load times. Both methods work, but I recommend the quest method unless your loading times are very short.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Found these birds as I'm going to reload the area, heard their chirping sound and jackpot. Glad that it only took me around 20 minutes.

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  Literally spent weeks trying to find these things. Realised you need to stand quite close to the herd that usually spawn them and turn your back to them with a ghillie mantle on. Done it just this second and will post the clip onto my twitter for people to see what I did

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    What worked for me was chilling in the Wildspire Waste, in the area with the purple flowers. I crouched on the central rock in my Ghillie mantle, looking away from the Apceros, and checking back every minute or so.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      caught mine in less than 5 minutes from the apceros in wildspire, there was like 8 of them on top of one of them

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        so... this was probably a bug, but i caught 8 of them in 1 mission, i was fighting azure rathalos in that one tunnel-ey area barroth runs to, the one with the mud, not the mud lake, and they were all there running into a wall frantically chirping and trying to escape. azure rathalos wasz kind enough to only slightly burn me to death while i caught them all

                                                        • Can I get a description of how their chirping sounds? I find that there are always like 3 different things chirping in these wildlands, & I don't know what I'm listening for.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            Have been hunting these birds for the past 2 days! I have been in the Woods, the Waste and in the Highlands. When i went back to the Forestarea 8, a bunch of Jagras scared my precious Aptonoth, i slayed em. About 30 sec later i ve heard the little Cottonballs, creeped up on them and added em to my Collection. A big Hug and Thank you to the Community :)

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              i found mine on the flying things above zone 12 (where legiana usually is). I shot it down and the downy crakes tried to run away but they got glitched on a corner.

                                                              • Go area 1 of Ancient Forest / Wildspire Waste, where Aptonoth's and Apceros are, equip ghille mantle, turn your back to them, listen to the chirping and enjoy.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  AAAAUUUUUGH I found some after ten minutes, whole herd of them, put on my ghillie mantle, and then a F***ING RATHALOS CAME DOWN AND SCARED THEM AWAY

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    i tought it was clickpait but for some reason it worked and i dont know why this video isnt on the wiki yet

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      Sooo, I can't find any info on this encounter I had. I found a downy crake taking cover, under vines, in the ancient forest, section 8, during rain. All alone and shaking off water. I didn't even have my ghillie mantle with me. Just crouched up to it and caught it. I can't find any other reports of this. At first I didn't think it was a downy crake. Because it was all alone and in the rain.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        i hate these birds. they can go choke on some dung. Searched hours and when i saw the for the first time it was them running away from me. ***** them, ***** everyone who got em

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          8 of these little sh*ts hopped right off an Apceros towards a herbivore nest and started glitching out. The RNG Gods have blessed me!

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            I found one glitching the hell out and caught it just stuck on a ledge. I found my Bristly Crake on a Mosswine, and still fishing for the Petricanth

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              Before I pile 300 hours into the game finding these abominations. What do I get after capturing it for the Research Help? Is it even worth it?

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                I switched back and forth between Forest and Wastes. I saw them on the northern set of apinoths (central camp, head north). Both times it was when the creatures were already walking.

                                                                                After the first time, which I messed up, it took 24 area loading screens (12 in forest, 12 in wastes). I'd bet they have about a 5% chance to spawn.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  I was trying to locate a high rank Kulu-Ya-Ku to spawn in either Ancient Forest and Wildspire waste so I can get the mission to hunt one right? I was focused on that then saw some weird white blobs on an aptonoth in the Ancient forest, what luck eh? THE NEXT 3 AREA SWAPS SPAWNED THESE F***ERS! I've spent well over 150 hours in this game and never saw any till then. Goddamn RNG...

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    I was hunting these for an hour or two and saw some on a drinking apthonoth.
                                                                                    Then anjanath came and scared them off good game

                                                                                    • Useful tip: These things will NOT show up if you are looking at them. So put on the Gillie mantle, go to an area with Aptonoth or Apceros, turn your character's back to them, look away, and then listen for the chirping.

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        After spending forever searching [and realising is was mostly night] i just had 3 lots spawn at sunrise. but whatever. random luck imo

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