The Story
This is a Spot-flanked Gallinule (Porphyriops melanops) that I photographed at La Florida near Bogotá, Colombia on June 29, 2017. The subspecies bogotensis is named for its range around Bogotá, where it lives in small, isolated populations. It feeds while swimming, picking plants, seeds, snails and insects from floating or rooted water plants. Both parents build the nest and take turns incubating, calling to each other with a cackle when it is time to switch. Ninety bird species have been recorded at La Florida.
I photographed it with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125. IUCN lists the Spot-flanked Gallinule as Least Concern with a stable population, and the Bogotá Water Company is in charge of restoring the city’s wetlands, which support more than 95 species of migratory birds.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Spot-flanked Gallinule (Porphyriops melanops) belongs to the family Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List