Australasian Swamphen
Porphyrio melanotus
The adult Australasian Swamphen is a large rail of freshwater marshes, reed beds, lagoons, and damp grasslands across Australasia. It eats a broad omnivorous diet of reeds, shoots, seeds, insects, mollusks, and sometimes eggs or small vertebrates. Adults walk on long toes over floating plants, swim well, and defend space with bill jabs, wing blows, chest bumps, and loud calls. Its vivid purple-blue body, red bill, and red frontal shield make it one of the most conspicuous wetland birds in its range.
- Type
- Water
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- ?
- Australasian Swamphen Juvenile
- Australasian Swamphen