Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinica
This most colorful member of the rail family is a permanent resident of parts of Central
Florida; elsewhere in the American South it is a summer visitor.
Purple Gallinules often forage on and from lily pads, as the one shown above is doing.
Above, a juvenile. Purple Gallinule is a cooperative breeder, with juveniles serving as
helpers in the feeding of later clutches of young.
Above, a bird harvests a seed; below, carrying a seed in its mouth. Purple
Gallinules eat insects and occasionally frogs and nestling birds, as well as the
seeds that make up most of their diet.
