Azure Gallinule

The azure gallinule (Porphyrio flavirostris) is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. == Taxonomy and systematics == The azure gallinule was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the coots in the genus Fulica and coined the binomial name Fulica flavirostris. Gmelin based his description on "La Favorite de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated in 1781 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The azure gallinule is now placed in the genus Porphyrio that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name Porphyrio is the Latin word for "swamphen" (from the Ancient Greek πορφυριος/porphurios meaning "purple-clad"). The specific epithet flavirostris combines the Latin flavus meaning "yellow" and -rostris meaning "billed". The azure gallinule is monotypic: No subspecies are recognized. == Description == The azure gallinule is 23 to 26 cm (9.1 to 10 in) long. Males weigh 92 to 111 g (3.2…