Allen's gallinule, formerly known as the lesser gallinule, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae.
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa
Typical Environment
Found widely across sub-Saharan Africa wherever shallow, vegetated freshwater wetlands occur, including marshes, swamps, pans, floodplains, and rice fields. It favors areas with extensive floating vegetation such as waterlilies and mats of emergent plants. Populations shift locally and regionally with rainfall, occupying ephemeral wetlands after flooding. Rare vagrants reach North Africa, the Middle East, Macaronesia, and occasionally Western Europe.
Altitude Range
0–2400 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Allen's gallinule is a small African rail that often follows seasonal rains, appearing suddenly at newly flooded wetlands and then dispersing widely. It is secretive in dense marsh vegetation but will swim readily and often flicks its tail to reveal bright white undertail coverts. Adults show a pale blue frontal shield and a red-and-yellow bill, and the species is an occasional vagrant to Europe and the Middle East. Long toes help it walk atop floating vegetation like waterlilies.
Mature (left) and immature (right) at Chobe National Park, Botswana.
Temperament
secretive and wary
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, usually low over vegetation; capable of longer nocturnal movements
Social Behavior
Typically seen singly or in pairs, but small groups may form at rich feeding sites. Nests are floating or semi-floating platforms concealed in dense emergent vegetation. Both sexes share incubation and chick care, and breeding often coincides with seasonal flooding.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations include soft clucks, bleats, and piping notes, often given at dusk or at night from cover. Alarm calls are sharper and more insistent, while contact calls are quieter and repeated.
Plumage
Adult shows dark slate- to purplish-blue head, neck, and breast with olive-brown upperparts and white undertail coverts. The frontal shield is pale blue; the bill is red with a yellow tip. Juveniles are warm buff-brown above and paler below with a duller bill and no bright shield.
Diet
An opportunistic omnivore that takes seeds and shoots of aquatic plants, as well as insects, spiders, snails, and other small invertebrates. It also picks at algae and plant matter on the water surface. Occasionally consumes small fish, tadpoles, or carrion. Forages by picking from floating leaves, gleaning along edges, and sometimes probing lightly in soft mud.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in shallow, sheltered wetlands with thick emergent or floating vegetation, especially lily pads and reed margins. Often forages from floating mats and will both walk and swim while feeding.
