PLUMAGE
THE long-extinct Lord Howe swamphen, also known as the Lord Howe gallinule or white gallinule, with the scientific name Porphyrio albus, was a flightless species of bird that was endemic to the remote Lord Howe Island. This island measures c10 km long and 0.3-2.0km wide, and is located c600 km east of Australia.
When the gallinule was initially discovered in 1788 it was considered common, but it quickly succumbedextinction is unknown, but it may have had already disappeared before 1800. The population of the gallinule contained all-blue and all-white birds, as well as variegated individuals which showed a variable mixture of blue and white feathers.
