African Swamphen

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the African Swamphen at stays in or beside Phinda Private Game Reserve, Rocherpan Nature Reserve, Kruger National Park, Garden Route National Park, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and iSimangaliso Wetland Park and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The African Swamphen is most recorded in Western Cape (67% of records), Gauteng (14% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (8% of records), based on 1,304 iNaturalist observations. 23 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the African Swamphen on site or nearby.

The African Swamphen is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Phinda Private Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Garden Route National Park: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

African swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis) is a species of swamphen occurring in Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, which it resembles, but with bronze green or green-blue back and scapulars.