Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Lord Howe swamphen/archive1
The Lord Howe swamphen (Porphyrio albus) was a rail found on Lord Howe Island, east of Australia. All contemporary accounts and illustrations were produced between 1788 and 1790, when the bird was first encountered by British ship crews. Today, two specimens exist: one in Liverpool's World Museum, and the holotype in the Natural History Museum of Vienna. It is thought to have been most similar to the Australasian swamphen. The Lord Howe swamphen was 36 cm (14 in) to 55 cm (22 in) long. Contemporary accounts indicate birds with all-white, all-blue, and mixed blue-and-white plumage. The bird's bill, frontal shield and legs were red, and it had a claw (or spur) on its wing. It may not have been flightless, but was probably a poor flier. This and its docility made the bird easy prey for visiting humans, who killed it with sticks. Reportedly once common, the species may have been hunted to extinction before 1834, when Lord Howe Island was settled. (Full article...)
Pinging FunkMonk; now we're doing blurbs for all articles promoted at FAC in 2018. Thoughts and edits are welcome. - Dank (push to talk) 03:11, 10 December 2019 (UTC)