Sora

Scientific Name: Porzana carolina

Range / Habitat: Preferred habitat shallow wetlands with plenty of emergent vegetation. Winters in Florida, along the Gulf coast, in Mexico and Central America, through to the far northwest of South America. Summers in the northern US and Canada.

Field Notes: Small marshbird, unmistakeable in range with black face, grey neck and chest, and rufous back. That is, if you can see it. Distinctive descending whinny call.

Personal Notes: Seen sneaking along the roadside just outside of Frontenac SP in Minnesota.

Dusky Moorhen

Scientific Name: Gallinula tenebrosa

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Inland wetlands and artificial habitats in eastern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.

Field Notes: Medium-sized freshwater bird, dusky colored throughout. Red face shield. Bill red with yellow tip. White patches on each side under tail. Eurasian Coot has white face shield. Purple Swamphen larger, bright purple underparts, and all red bill. 

Personal Notes: Seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. 

Takahe

Scientific Name: Porphyrio hochstetteri

Population Estimate: 150-220 individuals, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Year-round in grassland and pastureland in the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland and four predator-free off-shore islands.

Field Notes: Large awkward bird, similar coloration to Purple Swamphen but larger with more prominent beak and shield.

Personal Notes: We missed these birds on our Kapiti Island trip, but soon found these two at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington.

Black Crake

Scientific Name: Amaurornis flavirostra

Population Estimate: 1M

Range / Habitat: Year-round in wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa.

Field Notes: Medium-sized black wading bird with orange feet, yellow bill, and red eye.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Eurasian Coot

Scientific Name: Fulica atra

Population Estimate: 9M - 10M

Range / Habitat: The Eurasian Coot ranges from Eurasia to Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. Birds have also recently transported themselves to New Zealand, and the species is quickly becoming established.

Field Notes: The Eurasian Coot is recognised by its snowy white bill and forehead shield. The remainder of the bird is dark sooty grey, except for its bright red eye. Immature birds are generally paler than adults with a white wash on the throat. Nestlings are downy, black with fine yellow tips. The head is orange-red and the bill is red with a cream-white tip.

Personal Notes:

Common Moorhen

Scientific Name: Gallinula chloropus

Population Estimate: 3.9M - 8.1M

Range / Habitat: Common Moorhen: Breeds over much of North America through Central America and northern South America. Spends winters from the southern Atlantic states to South America. Prefers habitat with large areas of open water; common near reservoirs, ponds, freshwater marshes, and flooded grasslands.

Field Notes: The Moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red facial shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. It has a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. It is easily recognised by its vivid red shield and short, yellow bill, which sits in stark contrast to dark-coloured plumage. From a distance the plump body appears bold black, but upon closer inspection it is a more attractive olive-brown on the back, head and on its short wings, and grey on the underparts.

Personal Notes:

American Coot

Scientific Name: Fulica americana

Population Estimate: 6M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found year-round in a variety of freshwater habitats throughout the western US and into Mexico. In winter found down into Central America as well as in the southeastern US. In summers, throughout the US and up into Canada.

Field Notes: Adults are black, juveniles lighter. The bill is triangular like a chicken, not flat like a duck, white with a red knob at the base in adults. Red eyes. They are diving waterfowl but can also be seen "pecking" at the water. They do not swim as smoothly as ducks and have a lot of forward-and-back head movement that is distinctive when seen from afar. When on land you can seen the feet that give away their Gruiformes taxonomy.

Personal Notes: Top photo with Minneapolis in the background.

Weka

Scientific Name: Gallirallis australis

Population Estimate: 120K-187K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found in Marlborough Sounds, West Coast, Fiordland, Stewart Island, Kapiti Island. Rarely in North Island. Prefers forests, scrub and open country with good cover.

Field Notes: Large, flightless bird. Brown, streaked with black. Legs and bill short and sturdy. Buff eye stripe. Much stockier than other rails and crakes in its range.

Personal Notes: Cheeky bird, will try to steal a sandwich from your hand or poke around in your bag if you leave it unattended.

Purple Swamphen

Scientific Name: Porphyrio porphyrio

Population Estimate: 250K - 2.2M

Range / Habitat: Found on inland wetlands in the Mediterranean, Africa, tropical Asia, north and east Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Field Notes: Medium-sized waterbird with purple underparts, dusky head and upper parts. Red face shield and bill. Dusky Moorhen smaller, lacking purple underparts, yellow tip to bill. 

Personal Notes: One of our favorite birds in New Zealand, not the least because of its oversized feet. Also known as Pukeko in New Zealand / Maori. Then, we saw these again in Wellington, Florida -- thought we were looking at Purple Gallinule but the mask / legs weren't right. Sure enough, Sibley set us straight. There is an established Eurasian population in southern Florida. They seem to be doing well and we were happy to see our Pukeko again.