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Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinica Gallareta Azul,
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinica Gallareta Azul,
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Photo: G. Beaton
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IDENTIFICATION: The Purple Gallinule has a bright purple body, greenish back, and a red and yellow bill. Length: 27-36 cm.; weight: 208-288 g. VOICE: A reedy, clucking note. Audio (M. Oberle). HABITAT: Freshwater marshes and ponds with dense vegetation. HABITS: Feeds on plant leaves, seeds and sometimes flowers; insects, worms, frogs, and sometimes eggs and chicks of other birds. It walks supported by its long toes on floating vegetation. The nest is a bulky mass of plant fragments, sometimes with an entrance ramp. Both sexes incubate the 3-12 eggs for 18-25 days. The parents feed the chicks at the nest for the first 2-4 days, and then the chicks leave the nest except for brooding. Parents continue to feed the chicks until they are three weeks old. Non-breeding birds sometimes help the parents care for the young. Chicks fledge at 5-7 weeks. STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon, permanent resident in marshes in Puerto Rico. The drainage of wetlands has decreased habitat for this species. RANGE: Breeds from southeastern North America, south through the Greater Antilles and some islands of the eastern Caribbean to northern Argentina. The Spanish name of "Gallareta inglesa" refers to the colors of the bird, not its range. Regular places to find this species are at the Humacao and Caño Tiburones nature reserves. TAXONOMY: GRUIFORMES; RALLIDAE. Formerly in the genus Porphyrula. |
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Juvenile - Photo: G. Beaton
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References Bent, A.C. 1926. Life histories of North American marsh birds. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 135. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963). del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY. Ortiz Rosas, P. 1981. Guía del cazador: aves de caza y especies protegidas. Depto. de Recursos Naturales, San Juan, PR. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR. Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton. Taylor, B. Rails. 1998. Rails: a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules, and coots of the world, Yale University and Pica Press. West, R. L., and G. K. Hess. 2002. Purple Gallinule (Porphyrula martinica). No. 626 in The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Purple Gallinule, Spanish text Next related species in taxonomic order Previous related species in taxonomic order |