Sunday 2 July 2017

AUSTRALASIAN SWAMPHEN

The Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), family Rallidae, is a species of swamphen occurring in eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is also found in New Zealand where it is known as the Pūkeko, derived from the Māori language. The Australasian swamphen previously was considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio).

In New Zealand and Australia populations have expanded due to the creation of new artificial lakes and ponds. Birds are often seen singly, or in groups of two to three, foraging for food beside motorways or roadside ditches, and collecting grit. A study showed that the preferred grit colour is red (followed by yellow and lastly blue) even though red grit is less common. Roadkill is a cause of mortality.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

4 comments:

  1. Hello, gorgeous colors on this Swamphen. Lovely photo, Nick! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day and the new week ahead!

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  2. Such wonderful blue tones, I would like to search for lost feathers...

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  3. What a wonderful looking bird, I love the colour

    Thank you for linking up

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  4. They are gorgeous creatures and there are some that live down my road. Unfortunately, they have become a bit of a pest over here in New Zealand.

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