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White-breasted Waterhen
(Amaurornis phoenicurus)
Size: 32 cm
Weight: 170-300 g
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
White-breasted Waterhens are medium-sized waterhens. They
have a white front, from frons and ear coverts down the throat,
breast and belly. The vent and undertail are rufous-buff.
The back, from cap to uppertail, is dark grey, sometimes
with a green sheen.
The eyes have orange irises. The bill has a grey upper
mandible with a red base, the lower mandible is grey-greenish.
Legs and feet are also greyish-green.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See
White-breasted Waterhen at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the White-breasted Waterhen is available
HERE
.
White-breasted Waterhens populate a wide range from Pakistan in the
West, throughout the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,
towards China and all of far-eastern Asia roughly to the South of
the Himalayas, eastward to the Pacific coast of eastern China, South
Korea and Japan. They are also found
on all islands of South-east Asia, from the Andamans eastward,
including all of Indonesia. There are occasional reports also
from the Persian Gulf, in southern Iran and north-eastern Arabia.
In Australian territory, White-breasted Waterhens are only found
on Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
White-breasted Waterhens live in plains and breed in marshes, i.e.
swamp areas along
rivers. They
are mostly found on the edges of dense vegetation near fresh water,
but also around brackish water, and are known to regularly come
into more open areas.
White-breasted Waterhens are known as early colonizers of new
land, e.g. on volcanic islands.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
We have not seen White-breasted Waterhens on Australian territory yet.
The photos shown here, kindly provided by D. Wilczynska and M. Mearns,
were taken in the Maldives.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Lateral view of a White-breasted Waterhen (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[January 2018]
Lateral view of a White-breasted Waterhen (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[October 2015]
Lateral view of a White-breasted Waterhen (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[October 2015]
Different lateral view of a White-breasted Waterhen, with a clear view
of the white frontal parts and the upper mandible which is darker than
the lower mandible (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[October 2015]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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Lateral view of a juvenile White-breasted Waterhen moulting
into adult plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[October 2015]
Near-dorsal view of a juvenile White-breasted Waterhen moulting
into adult plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[October 2015]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.