Western swamphen
Porphyrio porphyrio (Linnaeus, 1758)
The western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), also called the Purple swamphen, is a bird in the family Rallidae of the order Gruiformes. It is a small, terrestrial, sedentary herbivore of wetland habitats, with an adult body mass of 774 g and reported values from 724 to 869 g.
Quick facts about the western swamphen
It lays 4 eggs per clutch and 1.5 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 24 days and sexual maturity at 3 years. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 18,690,000 km².
- Weight
- 724 g – 869 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 22 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 24 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.7 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the western swamphen
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the western swamphen live?
Not recorded
What is the western swamphen?
The western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) is a species of swamphen in the rail family Rallidae, one of the six species of purple swamphen. This chicken-sized bird, with its large feet, bright plumage and red bill and frontal shield is easily recognisable in its native range. It used to be considered the nominate subspecies of the purple swamphen, but is now recognised as a separate species. The western swamphen is found in wetlands in Spain (where the largest population lives), Portugal, southeastern France, Italy (Sardinia and Sicily) and northwestern Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia).
From the Wikipedia article “Western swamphen” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_swamphen&oldid=1354135243), 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.
What does the western swamphen sound like?
Is the western swamphen endangered?
The western swamphen is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- 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 western swamphen classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusPorphyrio
- SpeciesPorphyrio porphyrio (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Fulica porphyrio, Gallinula porphyrio, Porphyrio porphyrio porphyrio
Other names and names in other languages (52)
- Purple gallinuleEnglish
- Purple swamp-henEnglish
- Purple swamphenEnglish
- دجاجة السلطانArabic
- gallineta azulAsturian
- Обикновена султанкаBulgarian
- Douryar roueelBreton
- polla blavaCatalan
- slípka modráCzech
- CorsiarWelsh
- SultanhøneDanish
- PurpurhuhnGerman
- ΣουλτανοπουλάδαGreek
- ordinara porfirioEsperanto
- Calamón comúnSpanish
- sultantaitEstonian
- sulttaanikanaFinnish
- Poule sultaneFrench
- Talève sultaneFrench
- Cearcóg chorcraIrish
- פורפיריה מערביתHebrew
- velika sultankaCroatian
- kék fúHungarian
- Mandar besarIndonesian
- BláhænaIcelandic
- Pollo sultanoItalian
- セイケイJapanese
- ヨーロッパセイケイJapanese
- paprastoji sultonvištėLithuanian
- sultānvistiņaLatvian
- TalevabeMalagasy
- gråhodesultanhøneNorwegian Bokmål
- brunryggsultanhøneNorwegian Bokmål
- grønnryggsultanhøneNorwegian Bokmål
- PurperkoetDutch
- blåsultanhøneNorwegian
- modrzyk (zwyczajny)Polish
- camãoPortuguese
- caimão-de-cabeça-cinzentaPortuguese
- caimão-europeuPortuguese
- camão-ocidentalPortuguese
- camão-orientalPortuguese
- СултанкаRussian
- SultánvuonccisNorthern Sami
- sultánka modráSlovak
- SultankaSerbian
- västlig purpurhönaSwedish
- Mor SazhorozuTurkish
- султанка пурпуроваUkrainian
- 紫水雞Chinese
- 紫水鸡Chinese
- 西紫水鸡Chinese
Relatives of the western swamphen
Other species in the same genus Porphyrio.
Takahē
Porphyrio hochstetteri
American purple gallinule
Porphyrio martinica
Gray-headed swamphen
Porphyrio poliocephalus
Allen's gallinule
Porphyrio alleni
White swamphen
Porphyrio albus
Azure gallinule
Porphyrio flavirostris
CompareWestern swamphen vs TakahēWestern swamphen vs American purple gallinuleWestern swamphen vs Gray-headed swamphenWestern swamphen vs Allen's gallinule
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the western swamphen?
The western swamphen is a bird in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. It is also called the Purple swamphen, Purple gallinule or Purple swamp-hen.
How heavy is the western swamphen?
An adult Western swamphen weighs 774 g, with reported values from 724 to 869 g. It falls in the small size class.
Is the western swamphen endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the western swamphen live?
The western swamphen has a lifespan of 9 years, with values up to 22 years reported.
How many eggs does the western swamphen lay?
It lays 4 eggs per clutch and 1.5 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 24 days.
Does the western swamphen migrate?
No. The western swamphen is sedentary.
Who named the western swamphen?
The scientific name Porphyrio porphyrio is credited to (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
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 - 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). - 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). Western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-swamphen
“Western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-swamphen.
@misc{western_swamphen_2026,
title = {Western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-swamphen},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}