#1428 · 🐦 birds

White-breasted Waterhen

🇳🇱 Witborstwaterhoen ·Amaurornis phoenicurus

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 outside Europe

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The white-breasted waterhen ( Amaurornis phoenicurus ) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads. They are largely crepuscular in activity and during the...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 21,545iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
21,545 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Thomas Pennant in 1769 (257 years ago).