It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, which it resembles, but with bronze green or green-blue back and scapulars.

It is found in northern and eastern Botswana, part of Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the coast of Mozambique.

[1] It has occurred as a vagrant in Israel with a record from Eilat in October 2015.

[2] The African swamphen has a preference for freshwater or brackish ponds, slow flowing rivers, especially those flanked by reeds (Phragmites) and sedges, marshes, swamps, it also occurs on seasonally flooded wetlands.

The population is believed to be decreasing due to local disturbance and loss of habitat although it is not considered to be threatened.