Porphyrio alleni
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 387th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Allen's Gallinule in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
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.
8th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Allen's Gallinule sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 8th 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%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Allen's Gallinule is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (7 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.
