tags: Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinica, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Purple gallinule. Distinguished from the Purple Swamphen by the "pale blue shield" (Sibley) and greenish back and mantle. Otherwise pretty much unmistakable.
Great picture, much more colorful than Peterson. I've only seen one once in central KY, along a creek.
If you ever want to see LOTS of Purples, up close and personal - come to South Florida! They are easy to observe at Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Palm Beach County, and will pose for offerings of Fire Flag flowers. They are starting to breed now and have lots of cute chicks, too! Oh, and once you see a Swamphen up close, you will never confuse it with a Purple - they are much meatier and have completely different foraging habits.