Observing Gallinules

My first sighting of a gallinule was over twenty years ago at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a Purple Gallinule, and utterly unmistakable: violet head, neck, and breast blending to green on the back and wings; long, yellow legs; red-and-yellow bill; ruffled white undertail feathers; and a chicken-like gait and stance.  I later saw Common Gallinules (then called Common Moorhens—they were split from the Old World species in 2011), as well.  I had heard them calling at a heronry in south-central Mississippi before that, but had not seen them.  As it turns out, even though gallinules may be less secretive than their cousins, the rails, they don’t always make themselves obvious.

Perfect gallinule habitat -- and a gallinule in the upper right corner.

However, this time of year—late summer—is one of the best times to look for them.  Both Common and Purple Gallinules can be found on many ponds and lakes in the southeastern United States.  They need lots of aquatic vegetation on which to build their nests and search for food.  In the summer months, they are surprisingly active and vocal, and often have chicks in tow.  

This Common Gallinule swims with its three young.

This Purple Gallinule stays with its chick.

Gallinule clutch sizes are fairly large; eight is a typical number of eggs, although, obviously, not all of the chicks will survive to adulthood.  In the video below, you can see three Common Gallinule young swimming with the adult.

Gallinules consume a variety of foods, including aquatic vegetation and invertebrates.  Their long toes enable them to walk on floating vegetation (generally lily and lotus pads) while foraging.  They sometimes pluck insects and snails from the undersides of leaves, as you can see in the following video of a Purple Gallinule chick:

Because their nesting period is generally in the spring, their young are pretty far along in development by this point.  It also helps that they are born semi-precocial, rather than altricial.  This means that, unlike songbird chicks, they are feathered and have their eyes open.  Unlike precocial Killdeer chicks, though, they still stay in the nest for a day or so and must be fed by their parents for several days.  Once out of the nest, they can climb through vegetation using the tiny claws on their wings.  This is a feature of birds in Rallidae, the rail family.

This Purple Gallinule chick is stretching its wings.

It takes several weeks for gallinule chicks to learn to fly, and it could be argued that they are never truly comfortable with that skill!  On lakes and ponds, gallinules generally fly for only short distances, but some North American populations do migrate from breeding territories to wintering grounds in southern North America or Central America.  The vast majority of Common and Purple Galinules actually occur in South America, where they are permanent residents.

An immature Purple Gallinule -- old enough to be away from its parents, but not old enough for adult plumage.  Note the white undertail coverts, though.  Adult birds have these, too.

Some of my favorite places to see gallinules are Noxubee NWR and Ross Barnett Reservoir.  Of course, there are many other areas to look, and, if you go exploring, you just might discover a new hotspot. 

Sources:

Bannor, B. K. and E. Kiviat (2020). Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comgal1.01.

West, R. L. and G. K. Hess (2020). Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.purgal2.01.

Gallinules

My first sighting of a gallinule was around twenty years ago at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a Purple Gallinule, and utterly unmistakable: violet head, neck, and breast blending to green on the back and wings; long, yellow legs; red-and-yellow bill; ruffled white undertail feathers; and a chicken-like gait and stance.  I later saw Common Gallinules (then called Common Moorhens—they were split from the Old World species in 2011), as well.  I had heard them calling at a heronry in south-central Mississippi before that, but had not seen them.  As it turns out, even though gallinules may be less secretive than their cousins, the rails, they don’t always make themselves obvious.

Perfect gallinule habitat -- and a gallinule in the upper right corner.

However, this time of year—late summer—is one of the best times to look for them.  Both Common and Purple Gallinules can be found on many ponds and lakes in the southeastern United States.  They need lots of aquatic vegetation on which to build their nests and search for food.  In the summer months, they are surprisingly active and vocal, and often have chicks in tow.  

This Common Gallinule swims with its three young.

This Purple Gallinule stays with its chick.

Gallinule clutch sizes are fairly large; eight is a typical number of eggs, although, obviously, not all of the chicks will survive to adulthood.  In the video below, you can see three Common Gallinule young swimming with the adult.

Gallinules consume a variety of foods, including aquatic vegetation and invertebrates.  Their long toes enable them to walk on floating vegetation (generally lily and lotus pads) while foraging.  They sometimes pluck insects and snails from the undersides of leaves, as you can see in the following video of a Purple Gallinule chick:

Because their nesting period is generally in the spring, their young are pretty far along in development by this point.  It also helps that they are born semi-precocial, rather than altricial.  This means that, unlike songbird chicks, they are feathered and have their eyes open.  Unlike precocial Killdeer chicks, though, they still stay in the nest for a day or so and must be fed by their parents for several days.  Once out of the nest, they can climb through vegetation using the tiny claws on their wings.  This is a feature of birds in Rallidae, the rail family.

This Purple Gallinule chick is stretching its wings.

It takes several weeks for gallinule chicks to learn to fly, and it could be argued that they are never truly comfortable with that skill!  On lakes and ponds, gallinules generally fly for only short distances, but some North American populations do migrate from breeding territories to wintering grounds in southern North America or Central America.  The vast majority of Common and Purple Galinules actually occur in South America, where they are permanent residents.

An immature Purple Gallinule -- old enough to be away from its parents, but not old enough for adult plumage.  Note the white undertail coverts, though.  Adult birds have these, too.

Some of my favorite places to see gallinules are Noxubee NWR and Ross Barnett Reservoir.  Of course, there are many other areas to look, and, if you go exploring, you just might discover a new hotspot. 

Sources:

Bannor, B. K. and E. Kiviat (2020). Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comgal1.01.

West, R. L. and G. K. Hess (2020). Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.purgal2.01.

September Swimmers and Waders

Wood Stork at Bluff Lake

Don’t be fooled by the wide open mouth—the Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) perched in the cypress tree in the photo (taken early this month at Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge) was simply cooling off, not making noise.  But why was it here to begin with?  Wood Storks don’t nest at this wildlife refuge, but, during the summer and early fall, they disperse northward from their breeding grounds in Mexico, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.  Flocks are seen regularly in Mississippi during this time.  In fact, a few days after I photographed this perched stork, I saw a flock of twelve soaring over MSU’s campus.  

Wood Stork flock over MSU

It’s a little hard to see detail in this photo, but the outstretched necks of the storks are evident.  Herons and egrets usually fold their necks in when they fly.  The ungainly appearance of Wood Storks belies their grace in the air.  You really have to see a flock in action to appreciate it.  These particular individuals circled around several times, which made me think that they might have been checking out a small pond on campus.  They never landed, though. 

 

Great Egret at Bluff Lake

Storks nest very early in the year—late winter to spring.  Herons and egrets generally nest much later, so in August and September, the juveniles are busy maturing and preparing to disperse or migrate.  Some species, such as the Great Egret (Ardea alba) will usually remain in an area like Noxubee NWR year-round, but others, like the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), and Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), typically migrate farther south for the winter.

White Ibises at Bluff Lake (didn't get the memo to not wear white after Labor Day)

Like Wood Storks, White Ibises (Eudocimus albus) fly with their necks extended.  Their snowy plumage and decurved bills make them look somewhat similar to Wood Storks, but they are not in the same taxonomic family.  They often nest with herons and egrets in rookeries.  The ibises in the photo were also seen at Noxubee NWR, where they foraged methodically for invertebrates in the mud and weeds of Bluff Lake.  They must have been at it for a while; their necks were covered in mud. 

Common Gallinule at Loakfoma Lake

Just as a reminder that not all lakeshore or wading birds are as ectomorphic as the egrets, herons, storks, and ibises, here’s a Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata).  It’s a stocky, chicken-like little bird, closely related to the much more secretive rails.  Its incredibly long, yellow legs and toes provide an important clue to its behavior.  Along with the flashier Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus), it spends most of its time walking over emergent vegetation (and swimming between the vegetation clusters), and the long toes help to spread the bird’s weight out over the surface area of the leaves.
 

Finally, a video showing a Purple Gallinule in action!  This was taken a couple of years ago at Noxubee NWR, but it seemed like an appropriate way to conclude this discussion.  Remember to keep your eyes peeled for interesting wildlife.