| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | GRUIFORMES | RALLIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Porphyrio porphyrio | ||||||
| Species Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Least Concern ver 3.1 | ||||||
| Year Assessed: | 2009 | ||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | ||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Bird, J., Butchart, S. | ||||||
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Justification: This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend is not known, but the population is not believed to be decreasing sufficiently rapidly to approach the thresholds under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. |
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| History: |
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| Countries: |
Native:
Afghanistan; Algeria; American Samoa; Angola; Australia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; China; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Egypt; Ethiopia; Fiji; France; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Italy; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kuwait; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Niger; Nigeria; Niue; Pakistan; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Portugal; Qatar; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Samoa; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Swaziland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tonga; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Vanuatu; Viet Nam; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Vagrant:
Austria; Belgium; Congo; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong; Hungary; Israel; Jordan; Lebanon; Norway; Oman; Poland; Saint Helena; Somalia
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| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Habitat and Ecology: | Behaviour This species is sedentary, nomadic or partially migratory, with many populations making local seasonal movements in response to changing habitat conditions1 (e.g. the drying of marshes)2. The timing of breeding varies geographically (in relation to peaks in local rainfall)1. It breeds in solitary territorial pairs1, 2 (especially in pastures)2 or in small communal groups containing several breeding males, breeding females and non-breeding helpers1, 2 (especially in swamps)2. When not breeding the species occurs in pairs, small groups of 12 or more individuals (Africa) or in larger congregations of 50 to several hundred individuals (India and New Zealand)2. The species is mainly crepuscular and forages in the early-morning and late-evening1. Habitat It shows a preference for permanent, fresh or brackish, still or slow-flowing, sheltered, extensive wetlands1 with floating mats of water-lilies2, tall, dense emergent vegetation (e.g. reeds Phragmites spp., Typha spp., sedge Carex spp., papyrus Cyperus spp.1, 2, Scirpus spp. or Eleocharis spp.2), muddy or sandy shorelines and patches of shallow water1. It may however occur in saline, eutrophic or turbid wetlands, and may be found on small waters and seasonal or temporary wetlands (e.g. in Africa)1. Suitable habitats include ponds, lakes, dams, marshes, swamps, rivers, flood-plains, artesian wells, sewage farms1 and wet rice-fields2. The species also extends into open habitats adjacent to wetlands including grasslands, agricultural land, parks, gardens, hedgerows and forest margins1. Diet Its diet consists predominantly of plant matter including shoots, leaves, roots, stems, flowers and seeds (e.g. of Typha spp., Scripus spp., rice, grasses, sedges, Rumex spp., Polygonum spp., water-lilies1, clover Trifolium spp., fern Salvonia repens, bananas, tapioca and yam Dioscorea spp.2). It also takes animal matter including molluscs, leeches, small crustaceans1 (Isopods, Amphipods and crabs)2, adult and larval insects1 (Coleoptera, grasshoppers, Hemiptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera)2, earthworms2, spiders, fish and fish eggs, frogs and frog spawn, lizards1, water snakes Natrix maura2, adult birds, bird eggs and nestlings, small rodents and carrion1. Breeding site The nest is a shallow cup in a large substantial structure of vegetation1 built on a platform of vegetation floating on or standing in shallow water1, 2 30-120 cm deep2 and concealed in thick vegetation1. Management information There is evidence that the application of rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus control measures may lead to an increase in nest predation on this species by rabbit-specialising predators (New Zealand)6. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | The main threats to this species are habitat loss through wetland drainage1, 2, habitat degradation through the introduction of exotic species (e.g. coypu Myocastor coypus)2, direct mortality from pesticide contamination1, 4 (e.g. brodifacoum, a pesticide applied aerially to exterminate rodents)4, poisoning by cyanobacterial toxins (from dense blooms of cyanobacteria in wetlands)7 and hunting1. The species is also susceptible to avian influenza3, 8 and avian botulism so may be threatened by future outbreaks of these diseases5. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2009. Porphyrio porphyrio. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 07 February 2012. |
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