The American Purple Gallinule from the Florida Everglades is considered one of the beautiful birds in the area. This bird is also known as the “swamp hen.” That name comes from the size being close to that of a chicken. (Porphyrio martinicais is the scientific name.) This colorful bird has big yellow feet, a purple-blue color and an orange bill. Common to the Florida Everglades, South America and the West Indies, it is found in large, densely vegetated wetlands with still or very slowly moving water. It prefers areas with floating vegetation such as lily pads, pickerelweed or large leafs as seen in the image above. It eats a wide variety of foods including spiders, frogs, dragonflies, grasshoppers and water plants. The American Purple Gallinule is not a very good flyer. As seen in the picture above, it is an excellent wader. It uses its long toes to distribute its weight, and walks on lily pads and leaves.
If you like our free pictures for websites, you can copy the full resolution photo and use it for your internet needs or for your personal desktop. Click on the photo to see the image in a larger view then right click on it to save it to your computer. It’s that easy! No forms to fill out, no email sign up. Come back soon for our weekly free pictures for websites!
