Australasian swamphen

Appearance

The New Zealand population are possibly slightly larger than mainland Australian birds, but are otherwise identical. When threatened, they will often walk away from danger rather than fly. When they fly, take-offs and landings are clumsy, and short flight distances are preferred.

Distribution

The Australasian swamphen occurs in mainland Australia, eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, and in Papua New Guinea. It is also found on New Zealand's main islands and in the Chatham and Kermadec Islands. It has a small shield, black upperparts, and a purple throat and breast. "P. p. pelewensis" from Palau, resembles "melanotus" but has greener upperparts and is smaller. "P. p. melanopterus" is found from the Lesser Sundas and Moluccas to New Guinea. It is as "melanotus" but smaller, more variable and less blue in the upperparts. "P. p. bellus" from West Australia is as "melanotus" but has a cerulean blue throat and breast. "P. p. samoensis" occurs from New Guinea to New Caledonia and Samoa, and is as "melanotus" but smaller, with a brown tinge on the back

Status

In New Zealand, they are protected as native gamebirds, meaning they may be hunted only under licence during the duck shooting season. Sometimes there is an extended season on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. They are not generally hunted for food and most are not collected after the hunting session. They were sometimes eaten by Māori but were considered poor food, being sinewy and tough. In a written account given over 100 years ago, Māori were described as trapping pukeko. They would choose a suitable place where pukeko were known to feed, and drive a series of stakes into the ground. These stakes were connected by a fine flax string. Hair-like nooses were then dangled at the appropriate height, from the flax string, to catch pukeko as they fed after dusk, in the low light conditions.

In New Zealand and Australia populations have expanded due to the creation of new artificial lakes and ponds. The subspecies endemic to Palau has been considered endangered as well, although a 2005 survey found that the subspecies, while potentially threatened, is at least now still common.

Behavior

They live in groups of 3–12 individuals and are known to group together and shriek loudly to defend nests successfully during attacks by Australasian harriers. When unsuccessful at repelling predators, they may abandon their nest sites. A recent arrival to New Zealand, they have thrived in an environment that now contains introduced predators such as cats, rodents and mustelids.Nesting, breeding and rearing are as for the general species, see purple swamphen. In New Zealand they nest, typically well hidden in the middle of a clump of raupo, between August and March. Most eggs are laid between August and February with breeding reaching a peak in spring between September and December. New Zealand pukeko are joint-nesters and multiple females will lay their eggs in the same nest. The recent development of a useful PCR-based genetic marker to determine the sex of Pukeko has revealed that there is no evidence of sex ratio bias in hatching-order. Patterns of growth, survivorship and adult dominance in this species is therefore attributed to hatching order rather than offspring sexBirds are often seen singly, or in groups of two to three, foraging for food beside motorways or roadside ditches, and collecting grit. A study showed that the preferred grit colour is red even though red grit is less common. Roadkill is a cause of mortality.

Habitat

Australasian swamphens are considered to be the ancestors of several island species including the extinct Lord Howe swamphen and two species of takahē in New Zealand. On islands where closely related species have become extinct or declined due to human interference, such as New Zealand or New Caledonia, this species has established itself relatively recently.

Food

In New Zealand, they are protected as native gamebirds, meaning they may be hunted only under licence during the duck shooting season. Sometimes there is an extended season on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. They are not generally hunted for food and most are not collected after the hunting session. They were sometimes eaten by Māori but were considered poor food, being sinewy and tough. In a written account given over 100 years ago, Māori were described as trapping pukeko. They would choose a suitable place where pukeko were known to feed, and drive a series of stakes into the ground. These stakes were connected by a fine flax string. Hair-like nooses were then dangled at the appropriate height, from the flax string, to catch pukeko as they fed after dusk, in the low light conditions.

In New Zealand and Australia populations have expanded due to the creation of new artificial lakes and ponds. The subspecies endemic to Palau has been considered endangered as well, although a 2005 survey found that the subspecies, while potentially threatened, is at least now still common.

Cultural

The colour red was associated with nobility and power by Māori in New Zealand, so the bird was held in high esteem and held as a chiefly pet because of its red beak and legs. In Samoa, where it is called "manuali'i". Red was the prized color of Polynesian aristocracy and while birds with red plumage were highly prized, the swamphen was unique in deriving its prestige not from plumage but from its reddish face, beak, and legs. In old Samoa only chiefs could keep such birds as pets, and early European sailors noticed tethered and/or caged swamphens treated by Samoan chiefs as tamed pets. Some Samoans also considered the swamphen to be the incarnation of a mischievous, aggressive demon called Vave. There is no tradition of swamphens being taken as sport game or poultry food, except perhaps in time of necessity.