Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinicus

	Classification  Kingdom: Animalia  Phylum: Chordata  Class: Aves  Order: Gruiformes  Family: Rallidae  Genus: Porphyrula
ICUN Redlist - World Status: Least Concern

Description

The purple gallinule is a brightly colored marsh bird that is about the size of a chicken. It has a wingspan of 21 inches. It has blue and green feathers, long yellow legs, very long toes, and a red bill with a yellow tip. Males and females look the same.

Range

The purple gallinule is found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Oklahoma. It winters on the Gulf Coast. It is also found in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Habitat

The purple gallinule lives in freshwater marshes with aquatic vegetation like lily pads and pickerelweed.

Diet

The purple gallinule eats a wide variety of foods including frogs, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders and water plants.

Life Cycle

Female purple gallinules lay six to ten eggs in a nest of dead tree stems and leaves. The nest is usually placed on a floating tussock, in a clump of sawgrass, or in a thicket. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. Purple gallinules perform a "changing of the guard" ceremony while they are nesting. One partner will bring the partner incubating the eggs a leaf. The bird on the nest adds the leaf to the nest before turning incubation duties over to the other gallinule.

Behavior

The purple gallinule is not a very good flyer, but it is an excellent wader. It uses its long toes to distribute its weight. It can even walk on lily pads.