Porphyrio alleni
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Allen's gallinule (Porphyrio alleni), formerly known as the lesser gallinule, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Its former binomial name is Porphyrula alleni. Porphyrio is the Latin for "swamphen", and alleni, like the English name, commemorates British naval officer Rear-Admiral William Allen (1792–1864).
Allen's gallinules are found year-round in marshes and lakes in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has occurred as a vagrant in several European countries, and is the only purely Sub-Saharan bird species to reach Great Britain. They are similar in size to the only slightly larger water rail. The Allen's gallinule has a short red bill, greenish back and purple upperparts. They have red legs with long toes, and a short tail which is white with a dark central bar underneath. Breeding males have a blue frontal shield, which is green in the female. Immature Allen's gallinules are sandy brown with a buff undertail. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. They nod their heads as they swim.
Allen's gallinules are very secretive in the breeding season, particularly in the dense swamps they favour, and are... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 5 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 10 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 12 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 4 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 5 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 7 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 8 | Wolfgang-Köhler-Primaten-Forschungszentrum | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Allen's Gallinule sighting in Etosha National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 256th most-seen of the 260 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Allen's Gallinule in Etosha National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Allen's Gallinule sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Allen's Gallinule sightings, Etosha National Park ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 10%), Garden Route National Park (South Africa, under 5%) and iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, under 5%).
Same family: Rallidae
The closest relatives of the Allen's Gallinule that you can see in Etosha National Park (family Rallidae, Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) are Black Crake (about 20%) and Common Moorhen (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Allen's Gallinule is recorded against all the birds logged in Etosha National Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
