Australasian Purple Swamphen Porphyrio melanotus

The New Zealand and north/east Australia subspecies of Purple Swamphen, also called the Pukeko, has been reclassified as a separate species. Shown above/below in a cornfield, it has a black face and back with purple neck and chest and has shorter toes than the other Purple Swamphens.

A much rarer, larger and heavier bird with colouring closer to the south European/north African species is the New Zealand Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) not illustrated here. Related to the Pukeko, it is a much earlier-established bird in New Zealand, flightless, nearly extinct and given status of a separate full species much earlier.