Porphyrio pulverulentus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Philippine swamphen (Porphyrio pulverulentus Temminck, 1826) is a species of swamphen occurring in the Philippines and in the Talaud Islands, Indonesia. In the Philippines, it is found on Luzon, Mindanao, and other larger islands. Its habitat is dense reedbeds in swamps and wetlands, and fringing vegetation by lakes, ponds and rivers.
It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen; it differs from other members of this group in having olive-brown mantle and scapulars, and the head and body are tinged with ash-grey. It is part of the purple swamphen species complex which also includes the Australasian swamphen, grey-headed swamphen, western swamphen, African swamphen and black-backed swamphen but was differentiated through molecular studies, and its browner back and paler body.
This species is monotypic. There have been no species specific studies on its breeding and diet but it is pressumed to have the same behavior as the purple swamphen species complex. Primarily feeds on vegetable matter such as roots, shoots, stems, flowers and leaves. Also feeds on insects, mollusks and small vertebrates. Uses its bill and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Philippine Swamphen sighting in Manila on a given day, based on 117 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 94th most-seen of the 191 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Philippine Swamphen in Manila on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Manila's wettest months, with about 390 mm of rain against 100 mm in April.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Philippine Swamphen sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Manila, in our data
Manila is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Philippine Swamphen sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Rallidae
The closest relatives of the Philippine Swamphen that you can see in Manila (family Rallidae, Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) are Barred Rail (about 30%), White-breasted Waterhen (about 20%) and Common Moorhen (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Philippine Swamphen is recorded against all the birds logged in Manila (117 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
