Gray-headed swamphen
Porphyrio poliocephalus (Latham, 1801)
Status not recordedbirds
The gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes.
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Quick facts about the gray-headed swamphen
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the gray-headed swamphen live?
Not recorded
Is the gray-headed swamphen endangered?
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.
How is the gray-headed swamphen classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusPorphyrio
- SpeciesPorphyrio poliocephalus (Latham, 1801)
Synonyms Gallinula poliocephalus
Other names and names in other languages (59)
- Gray-headed purple swamphenEnglish
- Grey-headed purple swamphenEnglish
- Grey-headed swamp-henEnglish
- Grey-headed swamphenEnglish
- دجاجة الماء الأرجوانيةArabic
- slípka šedohlaváCzech
- Indisk SultanhøneDanish
- GraukopfpurpurhuhnGerman
- Σταχτoκέφαλη σoυλταvoπoυλάδαGreek
- grizkapa porfirioEsperanto
- Calamón cabecigrísSpanish
- lasuur-sultantaitEstonian
- طاووسکPersian
- Talève à tête griseFrench
- Cearcóg IndiachIrish
- פורפיריה אפורת-ראשHebrew
- जामुनी जलमुर्गीHindi
- plavetna sultankaCroatian
- Mandar kepala-kelabuIndonesian
- Pollo sultano testagrigiaItalian
- セイケイJapanese
- КөкмаңдайKazakh
- ನೇರಳೆ ಜಂಬುಕೋಳಿKannada
- Pilkagalvė sultonvištėLithuanian
- നീലക്കോഴിMalayalam
- जांभळी पाणकोंबडीMarathi
- कुर्माNepali
- GrijskoppurperkoetDutch
- gråhodesultanhøneNorwegian
- ਨੀਲੀ ਜਲ ਕੁੱਕੜੀPunjabi
- modrzyk siwogłowyPolish
- camão-orientalPortuguese
- СултанкаRussian
- දම්-මැදි කිතලාSinhala
- sultánka brahmanskáSlovak
- Sivoglava sultankaSerbian
- gråhuvad purpurhönaSwedish
- நீலத் தாழைக்கோழிTamil
- นกอีโก้งThai
- SazhorozuTurkish
- Султанка каспійськаUkrainian
- 紫水鸡Chinese
- دجاج السلطان رمادي الرأسArabic
- دجاج المستنقع رمادي الرأسArabic
- slípka modrá šedohlaváCzech
- Graukopf-PurpurhuhnGerman
- Calamón de cabeza grisSpanish
- طاووسک سرخاکستریPersian
- Pollo sultano asiaticoItalian
- ハイガシラセイケイJapanese
- जांभळी पाणकोंबडी (Marathi)Marathi
- caimão-de-cabeça-cinzentaPortuguese
- Camão-de-cabeça-cinzentaPortuguese
- Каспийская султанкаRussian
- Сероголовая султанкаRussian
- сивоглава барска кокаSerbian
- Gri Başlı SazhorozuTurkish
- султанка сіроголоваUkrainian
- 灰頭紫水雞Chinese
Relatives of the gray-headed swamphen
Other species in the same genus Porphyrio.

Western swamphen
Porphyrio porphyrio

Takahē
Porphyrio hochstetteri

American purple gallinule
Porphyrio martinica

Allen's gallinule
Porphyrio alleni
White swamphen
Porphyrio albus

Azure gallinule
Porphyrio flavirostris
CompareGray-headed swamphen vs Western swamphenGray-headed swamphen vs TakahēGray-headed swamphen vs American purple gallinuleGray-headed swamphen vs Allen's gallinule
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the gray-headed swamphen?
The gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) 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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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-headed-swamphen
“Gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-headed-swamphen.
@misc{gray_headed_swamphen_2026,
title = {Gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-headed-swamphen},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}