In Melbourne we saw these birds that looked just like coots from a distance, but when we got closer to them they were a lovely blue colour.
I’ve been able to identify most of the birds we’ve seen in Australia and New Zealand, but I’m struggling with this one!
Some sources say it’s a Red Seal Coot, and others say a Purple Swamphen (Pukeko)
Does anyone know for definite?
Maybe someone in Michelle’s Weekly Challenge can help me?
Day One 
we have them here too
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Do you know what they are called?
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Here we call them Pukekos. In Australia they are called Purple Swamphens.
http://aussiebirdlife.com/purple-swamphen-a-strange-australian-bird/
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You’re the second person to confirm the Purple Swamphen/Pukeko identification 🙂 Thank you
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Amazing colours! Thanks for the entry 🙂
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I have lots of interesting & colourful ‘almost pets’ to keep us going for quite a few weeks 🙂
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Great shots Barbara. You’ve captured them so well. I did a bit of googling and it seems it’s the Purple Swamphen. The read seal coot is actually called a ‘Common Moorhen’ and it’s not as colourful. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliotniman/4334008763/) but just as beautiful. Great entry for Michelle’s challenge. 😀
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Super! Thank you 🙂
I was just looking at photos on Google and the mix was 50/50, but then if the birds are similar people could be labelling them incorrectly!
I thought these fitted the wikipaedia description of the Purple Swamphen perfectly, so you have confirmed my instinct 🙂 Thank you!
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You are very welcome Barbara and I think this is what’s happening here and I am glad I could help. 😀
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Brilliant color … I’ve not seen anything like them. Thank you for sharing. 😀
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We were really surprised with the colours, as from the distance they looked dark & we thought they were just normal coots! Their colour was a great surprise 🙂
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Love the colours of whathisname! 😉
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The consensus seems to be a purple swamphen, but I thought they were more blue than purple! Maybe Pukeko translates as blue coot?
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i have never seen these beautiful birds before – i must say their blue feathers are mesmerizing. stunning!
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Me neither! I wish our birds were as colourful!
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Lovely pictures, especially that second one in profile! How close did these guys let you get to them? I usually have a hard time photographing birds.
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These ones were in the Botanical gardens, so I guess they were used to people being around. I was about 5m away I guess
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such bright colours!
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I was really surprised when I saw how blue they were! Totally unexpected 🙂
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