African swamphen

Weight

874 g – 1.08 kg

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

9 years

Longest recorded lifespan

22 years

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

Not recorded

Egg incubation

26 days

Young per litter or clutch

3.7

Age at maturity

11.9 months – 3 years

Litters or clutches a year

1

Conservation status

Not recorded

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderGruiformes
5. familyRallidae
6. genusPorphyrio
7. SpeciesPorphyrio madagascariensis (Latham, 1801)

Synonyms Gallinula madagascariensis, Gallinula porphyrio, Porphyrio madagascariensis, Porphyrio porphyrio, Porphyrio porphyrio madagascariensis, Porphyrio smaragdonotus

Catalogue of Life

LC, Least Concern

Western swamphen

Porphyrio porphyrio

Rallidae

EN, Endangered

Takahē

Porphyrio hochstetteri

Rallidae

American purple gallinule

Porphyrio martinica

Rallidae

G

Gray-headed swamphen

Porphyrio poliocephalus

RallidaeNo free photo yet

LC, Least Concern

Allen's gallinule

Porphyrio alleni

Rallidae

W

White swamphen

Porphyrio albus

RallidaeNo free photo yet

CompareAfrican swamphen vs Western swamphenAfrican swamphen vs TakahēAfrican swamphen vs American purple gallinuleAfrican swamphen vs Gray-headed swamphen

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@misc{african_swamphen_2026,
  title = {African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-swamphen},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}