Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) family in large breeding pen, Burwood Breeding Center, New Zealand

Donald M. Jones / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Everglades National Park, Florida

Mitsuaki Iwago / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) walking across lily pads, North America

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Grey-headed Swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) female, Diyasaru Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Juergen & Christine Sohns / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida

Mark Carwardine / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri), Tiritiri Matangi Island, North Island, New Zealand

Mark Carwardine / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) chick, Tiritiri Matangi Island, North Island, New Zealand

Alan Murphy/ BIA / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Florida

Tim Zurowski / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Florida

Tim Zurowski / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) foraging, Florida

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) pair in large breeding pen, Burwood Breeding Center, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) feeding on grass shoots, Burwood Breeding Center, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) in large breeding pen, Burwood Breeding Center, New Zealand

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Bueng Boraphet, Thailand

Greg Oakley / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) wading, Victoria, Australia

Greg Oakley / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) wading, Victoria, Australia

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Victoria, Australia

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Victoria, Australia

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Victoria, Australia

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Victoria, Australia

Rob Drummond / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Victoria, Australia

Bob Steele / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Bung Boraphet, Thailand

Robert Royse / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Florida

Robert Royse / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Florida

Patrick Donini / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Yanchep National Park, Australia

Glenn Bartley / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) juvenile, Ecuador

Jiri Slama / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Florida

Oscar Diez / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Andalucia, Spain

Oscar Diez / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Andalucia, Spain

Oscar Diez / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Andalucia, Spain

Ralph Martin / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Mallorca, Spain

Christine Jung / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Mallorca, Spain

Jan Wegener / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Australia

Jan Wegener / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) standing on nest, Australia

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) grazing, Kapiti Island, North Island, New Zealand

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) grazing, Nga Manu Nature Reserve, North Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) foraging, South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli), South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli), South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) transport boxes, South Island, New Zealand

Martin Willis / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) reflected in the water as it feeds chick, Mongers Lake, Western Australia, Australia

Jonathan Harrod / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) pair mating, Christchurch, New Zealand

Jonathan Harrod / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) chick hatching, Christchurch, New Zealand

Jonathan Harrod / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) males eagerly pursuing female, Christchurch, New Zealand

Jonathan Harrod / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) pair courting, Christchurch, New Zealand

Mark Hughes / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) sitting on fence post, East Clive, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Steve Gettle / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) standing on lily pads, Florida

Colin Monteath / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) near Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New Zealand

Mark Hughes / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) foraging, Kapiti Island Nature Reserve, New Zealand

Donald M. Jones / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Everglades National Park, Florida

Donald M. Jones / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Everglades National Park, Florida

Donald M. Jones / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), Everglades National Park, Florida

Colin Monteath / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus), Rotorua, New Zealand

Colin Monteath / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) wading through pond, Rotorua, New Zealand

Vincent Grafhorst / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis) in wetland habitat, Gaborone Game Reserve, Botswana

Donald M. Jones / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) at waters edge, Everglades National Park, Florida

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli), extinct in the wild, Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand

Thomas Marent / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) wading, Bharatpur National Park, India

Ross and Diane Armstrong / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) mother with chicks, Otorohanga, New Zealand

Richard Du Toit / Allen's Gallinule (Porphyrio alleni) on waterlily pad, Kasai Channel, Caprivi Strip, Namibia

Tom Vezo / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) standing on lily pads, Everglades National Park, Florida

Konrad Wothe / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) foraging for food in tall grass, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) portrait, extinct, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) portrait, extinct, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) portrait, extinct, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) portrait, extinct in the wild, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) portrait, extinct, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) pair beneath visitor sign, extinct in the wild, Tiritiri Matangi Island Open Sanctuary, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) nesting in Marsh, Golden Bay, South Island, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) in Marsh, Golden Bay, South Island, New Zealand

Mitsuaki Iwago / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) walking through grasses, previously thought to be extinct, North Island, New Zealand

Rob Drummond/ BIA / Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), Victoria, Australia

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Grey-headed Swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) male, Diyasaru Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Grey-headed Swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) male in wetland, Diyasaru Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Rob Drummond/ BIA / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) parent with fledgling, Victoria, Australia

Carlos Patricio/ BIA / Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) juvenile, Lisbon, Portugal

Richard Du Toit / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) building nest, Garden Route National Park, South Africa

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Nga Manu Nature Reserve, North Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) walking, South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) foraging, South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) emerging from tussock grass, South Island, New Zealand

Stephen Belcher / Takahe (Porphyrio mantelli) foraging, South Island, New Zealand

Jonathan Harrod / Pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) wading, Christchurch, New Zealand

Julian Hume / Illustration of breeding pair of Oiseaux bleus / Swamp hen on the Plaine Caffres,Reunion (extinct 1700). This species is known from only a few reliable accounts, and appears to have been a large galli...

Ripan Biswas / A bag confiscated from a poacher containing dead birds including Red-headed swamp hen (Porphyrio sp.), Bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus), Cotton pygmy goose (Nettapus coromandelianus), Eurasia...