Well, just like the Turaco, the
American purple gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), has an exceptional color
combination of a red beak, blue body, green wings and yellow legs. They’re in
the order Gruiformes, which means "crane-like", and within the order
there are cranes, rails, and crakes. Thus, the purple gallinule is a rail
species which places them into the family, Rallidae. The purple gallinule is a
swamphen since it has the genus Porphyrio. The yellow-legged porphyria is found
in the southeastern states of the United States during the breeding season.
They are resident’s species in southern Florida, Gulf and Pacific coast of
Mexico, parts of Central America, and Caribbean. This is medium size colorful bird
reaches a length of 26-37cm in length while spanning 50-61cm across the wings.
The captivating bird weighing is 141-305 g. Moreover, the wingspan that helps in to glide
up for short periods of time with its legs dangling under its body. They are
able to fly when they are 5 to 7 weeks old. Young use tiny claws on their wing
tips to crawl on bushes and out of the nest.
An adult purple gallinule has
purple-blue plumage that will shine green and turquoise when in perfect
lighting also have a pale blue shield on their forehead, which connects with
the red and yellow bill. However, low light or darkness can dim the bright
purple-blue plumage of the adult to make them look dusky or brownish. So,
forehead shield color differentiates them from same species such as common
gallinules. Juvenile birds are light brown with hints of green-bronze on the
wings and black and white under-tail coverts. This species can found in
freshwater marshes that have dense stands of vegetation. However, during the
non-breeding season, they are found more inland in parts of Central America.
They can also be found within South America during migration, and occasionally wander
away as far north as Canada. This species has been recorded in Cape Province of
South Africa, most of all of the birds where juveniles, so it is very unlikely
that a breeding ground will be established there.
Further, purple gallinules have
long legs with long toes that support them walk onto of the floating
vegetation, by distributing their weight. They have an anisodactyl toe
arrangement that also benefits them to cling to plant stems. The purple
gallinule is not a very good flyer, but it is an excellent wader. It uses its
long toes to distribute its weight, and it can even walk on lily pads. In the
short distance fly, their legs hang down. The species has the greatest pattern
of vagrancy amongst rails, with individuals recorded as far west as California
and the Galápagos Islands, as far north as Iceland and Labrador, as far south
as Tierra del Fuego, and as far east as Great Britain, Portugal and Cape Verde.
The bird nests are floating nest that are within the dense vegetation along
shallow margins of lakes, rivers, and marshes shorelines. They normally lay 5
to 10 eggs, which are a buff or pale pink with brown and purple spots. Their nest
and territories are defended by the monogamous pair and the juveniles remain in
the territory to support care for siblings. Purple gallinules are omnivorous
ground feeders.
The species diet consists of variety
of plant and animal matter within their foods they consume seeds, leaves and
fruits of both aquatic and terrestrial plants, insects, frogs, snails,
earthworms, fish, and sometimes even the chicks of other birds, and when lucky swamp
eels. Furthermore, the purple gallinules courtship occurs while they’re
standing, and can be displayed by both sexes. Courtship occurs when the birds
of a pair have been separated, and then wander close to one another. The
courtship display entails the bird standing in a slightly bent forward
position, with the neck outstretched, and holding the wings at an almost right
angle to the body and bent at the wrist, so that the primaries are angled down.
Purple Gallinule populations are probably decreasing in their range, due to
freshwater wetland loss in the United States, and in South and Central America.
The birds have been destroyed in rice fields by aerial spraying with
pesticides. They also are preyed upon by alligators and turtles. However, this colorful
species is not considered to be globally threatened.
