CreatureData

Allen's gallinule

Porphyrio alleni Thomson, 1842

LCLeast Concernbirds

The allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 128.5 g to 159.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni)
Photo: Martien Brand from Mariënberg, The Netherlands · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the allen's gallinule

Weight
128.5 g – 159.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
48 cm – 52 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4.65 – 4.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the allen's gallinule?

ALLEN'S GALLINULE · WINGSPAN 52 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 52 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the allen's gallinule is about 31% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the allen's gallinule live?

Not recorded

What is the allen's gallinule?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni), formerly known as the lesser gallinule, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae.

From the Wikipedia article “Allen's gallinule” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen%27s_gallinule&oldid=1374807728), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the allen's gallinule endangered?

The allen's gallinule is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the allen's gallinule classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGruiformes
  5. familyRallidae
  6. genusPorphyrio
  7. SpeciesPorphyrio alleni Thomson, 1842

Synonyms Gallinula alleni, Gallinula porphyrio, Porphyrio brehmii, Porphyrio minutus, Porphyrula alleni, Porphyrula alleni alleni, Porphyrula alleni alleni

Other names and names in other languages (52)
  • African purple gallinuleEnglish
  • Lesser gallinuleEnglish
  • Lesser gallinuleEnglish
  • KleinkoningriethaanAfrikaans
  • سحنون ألنArabic
  • دجاجة السلطان ألنArabic
  • Султанка на АлънBulgarian
  • Douryar-AllenBreton
  • polla blava d'AllenCatalan
  • slípka AllenovaCzech
  • slípka modročeláCzech
  • Lille SultanhøneDanish
  • BronzesultanshuhnGerman
  • Bronze-SultanshuhnGerman
  • Αφρικανική νερόκοταGreek
  • Αφρικανική ΠορφυροπουλάδαGreek
  • eta porfirioEsperanto
  • malgranda porfirioEsperanto
  • Calamoncillo africanoSpanish
  • Pollona AfricanaSpanish
  • aafrika sultantaitEstonian
  • kurnuliejukanaFinnish
  • Talève d'AllenFrench
  • Poule sultane d'AllenFrench
  • Talève d’AllenFrench
  • Cearcóg ailínIrish
  • פורפיריה אפריקניתHebrew
  • פורפירית אלןHebrew
  • afrikai szultántyúkHungarian
  • ReyrhænaIcelandic
  • Gallinella minoreItalian
  • Pollo sultano di AllenItalian
  • アフリカムラサキバンJapanese
  • mažoji sultonvištėLithuanian
  • mazā sultānvistiņaLatvian
  • TalevakelyMalagasy
  • Afrikaans purperhoenDutch
  • afrikapurpurhøneNorwegian
  • sułtanka afrykańskaPolish
  • camão-pequenoPortuguese
  • caimão-de-allenPortuguese
  • Frango-d'água-africanoPortuguese
  • Бронзовая султанкаRussian
  • AfrihkásultánvuonccisNorthern Sami
  • sultánka belasočeláSlovak
  • mala sultankaSlovenian
  • Afrička barska kokicaSerbian
  • mindre sultanhönaSwedish
  • Küçük SazhorozuTurkish
  • султанка африканськаUkrainian
  • 小青水雞Chinese
  • 辉青水鸡Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the allen's gallinule

Other species in the same genus Porphyrio.

EN, Endangered
Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri)

Takahē

Porphyrio hochstetteri

Rallidae

CompareAllen's gallinule vs Western swamphenAllen's gallinule vs TakahēAllen's gallinule vs American purple gallinuleAllen's gallinule vs Gray-headed swamphen

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the allen's gallinule?

An adult allen's gallinule weighs 128.5 g – 159.5 g and has a wingspan of 48 cm – 52 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the allen's gallinule endangered?

The allen's gallinule is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the allen's gallinule?

The allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/allens-gallinule

MLA

“Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/allens-gallinule.

BibTeX
@misc{allens_gallinule_2026,
  title = {Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/allens-gallinule},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}