Sarothrura elegans (Buff-spotted flufftail)

The Buff-spotted Flufftail (Latin name Sarothrura elegans) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 218 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 315 also a picture of the Buff-spotted Flufftail on page 320. The Buff-spotted Flufftail belongs to the family of birds classified as Rallidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Buff-spotted Flufftail is also known by these other names: Buff-spotted Crake, Buff-spotted Pygmy Crake, Buff-spotted Pygmy Rail.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Buff-spotted Flufftail is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Buff-spotted Flufftail in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Buff-spotted Flufftail : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Buff-spotted Flufftail is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Buff-spotted Flufftail is about 17 cms and its weight is about 45 gms

You will find that the male Buff-spotted Flufftail plumage and colours are different to that of the female Buff-spotted Flufftail

* Head is orange.
* Eye is brown.
* Bill is black.
* Throat is orange.
* Back is black.
* Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

African rail

The African Rail (Rallus caerulescens) is a small wetland bird of the rail family.

Its breeding habitat is marshes and reedbeds across eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa. Many birds are permanent residents, but some undertake seasonal movements in response to the availability of wetland.

Adults are 28-30 cm long, and have mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, with black-and-white barring on the flanks and undertail. This is the only Rallus species with a plain back. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds. They have long toes, a short tail and a long slim dull red bill. The legs are red.

The African Rail nests in a dry location in marsh vegetation, both sexes building the cup nest. The typical clutch is 2-6 heavily-spotted creamy-white eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about 20 days to hatching Immature birds are similar to the adults, but the blue-grey is replaced by buff. The precocial downy chicks are black, as with all rails.
Rallus caerulescens


These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects, crabs and other small aquatic animals.

African Rails are secretive in the breeding season, but are easier to see than many other rail species, especially in the morning. They are noisy birds, with a trilled whistled treee-tee-tee-tee-tee call.

Baillon's crake

Baillon's Crake Size: 15cm Habitat: Found in most areas of Australia where wetlands exist. It can be found foraging for insects and molluscs in swamps and dams. Also eats vegetation. Notes: Top of head and body brown with black and white streaks, grey face and underside of body, barred undertail legs light green. Breeds Spring - Summer.

Spotted crake

Identification

Spotted crakes are smaller and even more portly than Water Rails. The short bill confirms that this isn't a Water Rail and the snowfall of white spots on the head, breast and upper-parts proves that you have a Spotted Crake and not something even rarer.
Habitat

Breeds in well-vegetated swamps and lakesides.
Migration

Many European birds winter in southern Europe, with some travelling across the Mediterranean to north Africa. Some birds will overwinter in countries around the North Sea

American purple gallinule

Encyclopedia

This article is about the (American) Purple Gallinule, (Porphyrio martinica). For information on the Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio), see Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen
The Purple Swamphen , also known as the African Purple Swamphen, Purple Moorhen, Purple Gallinule or Purple Coot, is a large bird in the family Rallidae . From its name in French, talève sultane, it is also known as the Sultana Bird. It should not be confused with the American Purple Gallinule,...

.



The American Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica) is a "swamp hen" in the rail family Rallidae.

This medium-sized rail is unmistakable, with its huge yellow feet, purple-blue plumage
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates. They are among the outstanding characteristics that distinguish the extant Aves from other living groups....

with a green back, and red and yellow bill. It has a pale blue forehead shield and white undertail.

Young birds are brown rather than purple. These gallinules will fly short distances with dangling legs.

Their breeding habitat is warm swamps and marshes in southeastern states of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and the tropical regions of Central America
Central America
Managua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...

, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...

and northern South America
South America
South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...

. This species is resident in southern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...

and the tropics, but most American birds are migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...

, wintering south to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...

.

The nest is a floating structure in a marsh. Five to ten egg
Egg (biology)
In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo. When the embryo is adequately developed it breaks out of the egg in the...

s are laid. Their coloration is buff with brown spots.

The diet of these rails is omnivorous, being known to include a wide variety of plant and animal matter, including seed
Seed
A seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s, leaves and fruit
Fruit
The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...

s of both aquatic and terrestrial plants, as well as insect
Insect
Insects are arthropods, having a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million species that are already described. Insects represent more than half of all...

s, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s, snail
Snail
The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Snails lacking a shell or having only a very small one are...

s, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae modified into fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

s, earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

s and fish
Fish
A fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...

. It has also been known to eat the eggs and young of other birds.

This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...

. There is a similar species in southern Europe, the Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen
The Purple Swamphen , also known as the African Purple Swamphen, Purple Moorhen, Purple Gallinule or Purple Coot, is a large bird in the family Rallidae . From its name in French, talève sultane, it is also known as the Sultana Bird. It should not be confused with the American Purple Gallinule,...

, Porphyrio porphyrio, but that bird is much larger.

African purple swamphen, Purple gallinule

The African Purple Swamphen (Latin name Porphyrio madagascariensis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 223 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 330 also a picture of the African Purple Swamphen on page 305. The African Purple Swamphen belongs to the family of birds classified as Rallidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the African Purple Swamphen is also known by these other names: Purple Swamphen, King Reedhen.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the African Purple Swamphen was called the Purple Gallinule. The Robert's 7 Latin name for African Purple Swamphen has changed from Porphyrio porphyrio in Robert's 6 to Porphyrio madagascariensis.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The African Purple Swamphen is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the African Purple Swamphen in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Purple Swamphen has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Porphyrio alleni (Allen's gallinule, Lesser gallinule)

The 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.

Its breeding habitat is marshes and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa. They build a floating nest in marshes and swamps, laying 2-5 eggs. This species is partially migratory, undertaking seasonal movements.

Remarkably, this apparently weakly flying bird is not only the only species with a purely sub-Saharan African range to have reached Great Britain, but has done so twice. It has also occurred as a vagrant in several other European countries.

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.

These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and aquatic animals. 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 mostly heard rather than seen. They are then rather noisy birds, with a sharp nasal pruk call. They can be easier to see on migration or when wintering.

This bird is named after British naval officer Rear-Admiral William Allen (1770-1843).