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7

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) Size: 32 cm Weight: 170-300 g

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description 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.

Taxonomy, classification See White-breasted Waterhen at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species 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.

Sightings 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.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

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]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

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.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 25 February 2019, 19:09 +00:00