Alternative Name: Sunda Swamphen
, July 2023
- Porphyrio indicus
Identification
- Red bill and frontal shield
- Large feet
- Black back and head
Distribution
Found in Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo and Sulawesi.
Taxonomy
Formerly considered conspecific with African Swamphen, Grey-headed Swamphen, Western Swamphen, Philippine Swamphen and Australasian Swamphen under the name Purple Swamphen.
Subspecies
, July 2023
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Reed beds and wet areas with high rainfall, swamps, lake edges and damp pastures.
Behaviour
The birds live in pairs and larger communities.
Breeding
The birds make a nest of woven reeds on floating debris or amongst reeds. More than one female will use the nest and they share incubating the eggs for 24 days. Each bird lays 3-6 speckled eggs and the nest can contain up to 12 eggs.
Diet
Diet includes tender shoots and vegetable-like matter, invertebrates (like snails), small fish, and eggs from nests and also eat ducklings. It is a good swimmer, especially for a bird without webbed feet.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Trewick, S.A. 1997. "Flightlessness and phylogeny amongst endemic rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the New Zealand region." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. (352) 429-46.
- Sangster, G. 1998. "Purple Swamp-hen is a complex of species." Dutch Birding (20) 13-22.
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Wikipedia
- Absolute Astronomy
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-backed Swamphen. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-backed_Swamphen
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
