Robert Siegel
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Rails, moorhens, nativehens, gallinules, swamphens, and other rallidae
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
There is a proposal to create a separate order: Ralliformes
Species depicted - 11 species in 6 genera (out of around 40 extant genera)
Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus)
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Sora Porzana carolina
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Flightless rail (Tribonyx mortierii) - native hen
Florida or common gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
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European gallinule (Gallinula chloropus)
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American purple gallinule or purple moorhen (Porphyrio martinica)
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Western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
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Gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus)
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African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)
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American coot (Fulica americana)
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Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
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Rails - misc
Notes from Porphyrio page:
I have tried to make sense out of the nomenclature / classification of these birds.
I had some excellent assistance in this regard from Robert Pittell, my former pediatrician.
Among other places, both the Porphyrio martinica and Porphyrio porphyrio can be found at Green Cay in Boyton Beach.
Porphyrio martinica is a new world bird.
It is also known as the Purple gallinule, although it is not actually in the genus Gallinula.
It is also known as a purple moorhen, although most of the
moorhens are actually in the genus Gallinula.
And there are also males even though they are called hens. Hmmmm.
Oh yeah, there is also a great deal of confusion on the web as to whether the species is P. martinica or P. martinica.
Porphyrio porphyrio is an old world invader.
It is also called a purple swamphen, even though, as noted, that includes the males.
According to Wikipedia, it is also called in various places
"Purple Moorhen, Purple Gallinule or Purple Coot."
And, yes, except for the coot part, that is identical to Porphyrio martinica
with all the caveats listed above.
And to make matters worse,
the American Coot (Fulica americana)
is in a different genus and is also known as a mud hen.)
Moor? Swamp? Mud? Apparently, moorhen are sometimes called marsh hens or river chicken.
Ugh! This is fowl indeed.
What bird brain named these?
Perhaps that is why scientists used the Latinized names.
The only problem there is that many taxa have just undergone reclassification and naming due to newly acquired DNA sequence data.
For example, some of the Porphyrio used to be Porphyrula.
So you really cannot win on that score either.
Despite all my
railing, at least they are all in the family
Rallidae.
April 6, 2016
Pickled rail
Swimming
Rail tail
At water's edge
The clapper
Reclap
Clapper rail stare down
When clapper rails pretend to be martians
Clap chadowed
Rail Tracks
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Palo Alto Baylands
Decemebr 14, 2020
Canon 7D markII
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Palo Alto Baylands
Decemebr 14, 2020
Canon 7D markII
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Palo Alto Baylands
Decemebr 15, 2020
Canon 7D markII
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Palo Alto Baylands
Decemebr 15, 2020
Canon 7D markII
Sora-flage
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Palo Alto Baylands
Decemebr 15, 2020
Canon 7D markII
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Emily Renzel Wetlands
November 12, 2020
Canon 7Dmark2
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots, sora, crakes)
Emily Renzel Wetlands
November 12, 2020
Canon 7Dmark2
Flightless rail (Tribonyx mortierii)
Flightless rail
Tribonyx mortierii
Tasmania 2012
April 6, 2012
The name changed from
Gallinula mortierii since my last visit.
Endemic
Gallinula mortierii
April 6, 2012
Thunder Chook
Tasmanian nativehen (Tribonyx mortierii)
Giants Table
Tasmania 2015
August 31, 2015
Canon 7DMark2
Common gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
Florida moorhen
Common gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
Family: Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots)
Boyton Beach
November 27, 2012
knobby kneed moorchild
Common gallinule
European moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
More hen
Purple gallinule or purple moorhen (Porphyrio martinica)
Purple gallinule
The bird purple
Western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
Purple swamphen
Gray-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus)
African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)
Swamped
African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Livingstone water works
Livingstone, Zambia
Canon 7Dmark2
American coot (Fulica americana)
Coot portrait
Fissipalmate
Coot foot
When coots do the chicken polka
Complaining adolescent
Made in America
Coot
American coot (Fulica americana)
Palo Alto Baylands
with Photographing Nature class
December 3, 2016
Canon 7DmarkII
Plural coot
American coot (Fulica americana)
Family: Rallidae
Palo Alto Baylands
with Photographing Nature class
December 3, 2016
Canon 7DmarkII
Coot and reflection
American coot (Fulica americana)
Family: Rallidae
Palo Alto Baylands
November 29, 2015
Canon 7Dmark2
Coot approaching
Coots retreating
Some old
A covert of coots
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4 coots
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Confluence of coots
Mowing a path through the coots
Seafood snack
American coot (Fulica americana)
Family: Rallidae (rails, coots, gallinules, moorhens, sora, crakes)
Stevens Creek Shoreline
November 13, 2020
with Luke Beckman
Canon 7Dmark2
Odd couple
Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
Ready, Aim, Coot
Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
taken in Christchurch Meadow, Oxford
May 2, 2004
Canon Digital Rebel
misc
Baylands rail (Rallus catwalkus)
Other Gruiiformes
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Last modified: January 9, 2021
Created: February 11, 2018 (adapted from rails.html)
Contact: siegelr@stanford.edu
All pictures are protected by copyright. Do not use without permission.