#1133 · 🐦 birds

Gray-headed Swamphen

🇳🇱 Grijskoppurperkoet ·Porphyrio poliocephalus

🐦 Birds 📍 in Europe, not in NL

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

what is it?

Grey-headed swamphen ( Porphyrio poliocephalus ) is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six races are designated full species.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 11,812iNaturalist observations

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.
11,812 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by John Latham in 1801 (225 years ago).