Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
African swamphen

The African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis) is a species of swamphen occurring in Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, which it resembles, but with bronze green or green-blue back and scapulars. It has occurred as a vagrant in Israel with a record from Eilat in October 2015. The African swamphen has a preference for freshwater or brackish ponds, slow flowing rivers, especially those flanked by reeds (Phragmites) and sedges, marshes, swamps, it also occurs on seasonally flooded wetlands. The population is believed to be decreasing due to local disturbance and loss of habitat although it is not considered to be threatened.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Camera: ILCE-7RM5
Copyright: © Elena Levi