At one time the Grey-headed Swamphen was considered one of six subspecies of the Purple Swamphen, but in 2015 each of these subspecies was elevated to a full species. The species is not native to Florida, but was introduced in 1999 due to avicultural escapees in Pembroke Pines, FL. Since then it has established itself in various parts of southern Florida. It was added to the ABA bird checklist in 2013. The Grey-headed Swamphen is actually native from the Middle East and Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand.
We can ID this bird as a Grey-headed Swamphen as follows:
- The bill and the frontal shield are red. The Purple Gallinule has a pale blue frontal shield and the Common Gallinule has no frontal shield.
- Bluish grey head.
No comments:
Post a Comment