Purple Swamphen

Scientific name: Porphyrio porphyrio

Meaning of name:

Porphyrio is from the Greek word porphyrios meaning purple.

Aboriginal Name:

Kwilom (quill’awm).

Distribution:

Found in the south west of Western Australia and isolated areas elsewhere. Widespread in eastern Australia. Also found in New Zealand, islands in the South Pacific, Indonesia, Asia, India and Africa.

Description:

This bird is up to 48 centimetres long with a wingspan up to 88 centimetres.

Notes:

The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 268 km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 6 years 0.8 months after being banded (information as at 15 June 2012).

References:

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/Journals/080559/080559-07.015.pdf

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/3dbe8a1f-e562-42ba-a165-565c0704f8f2