Lord Howe Swamphen

Lord Howe Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio albus)

The Lord Howe Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio albus) is an extinct, flightless Rail, which was endemic to the Australian Lord Howe Island.

Appearance

It resembled the Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio porphyro ) apart from its white or blue-white color, and the red eyes and legs very much. It should also have been completely blue birds, according to Keith Alfred Hindwood. The top of the head was red. Legs and feet were formed strong, the toes while the bill was shorter smaller. The wings were shorter, the flight feathers smaller and softer than the Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio porphyro ).

Extinction

The bird was known by two bellows, some subfossil bones and various paintings. He had no fear of people. Although the bird, when the island was discovered in 1790, was not rare, the species was eradicated within a very short time by hunting by sailors of sailing and whaling ships. Rats and cats were introduced on the island until much later. The Lord Howe purple chicken was probably completely extinct in 1834 in the settlement of Lord Howe Island.

Swell

• Arthur Phillip: The Voyage Of Governor Phillip To Botany Bay. With An Account Of The Establishment Of The Colonies Of Port Jackson. And Norfolk Iceland (1789 ). (online)
• BirdLife International 2004. Porphyrio albus. In: . IUCN 2006 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 11 September 2007.
• Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world. 4th edition, unchanged reprint of the edition of 1986. Westkarp -Wiss, Magdeburg and Spektrum Akad Verlag, Heidelberg 1995.