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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
purple
gallinule |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Aves |
| ORDER: |
Gruiformes |
| FAMILY: |
Rallidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Porphyrula (purple) martinica (Island
of Martinique) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Large, duck-like water bird with short wings and
tail; short, thick bill, red eyes and red bill with
yellow tip; light blue frontal shield above bill;
yellow legs and feet; purple head, neck, breast
and belly; green back and upper wings |
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| SIZE: |
26.25 cm (10.5 in); wingspan 52.5 cm (21 in) |
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| WEIGHT: |
250-260 g (8.75-9.1 oz) |
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| DIET: |
Plant and animal matter such as snails, insects
and molluscs |
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| INCUBATION: |
18 days |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
2-6 eggs |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
Some studies show 3 years, other show 3 months;
full adult eye color and face and neck coloration
are not reached until 20-24 months old |
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| RANGE: |
Typically southeastern US to Argentina; rarely as
far north as Nova Scotia |
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| HABITAT: |
Freshwater swamps, marshes, and ponds |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
These
birds use a hen like cackling sound "kek, kek,
kek" to communicate when flying. |
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| 2. |
Gallinules, when young, crawl on bushes and out
of the nest using tiny claws on their wing tips. |
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| 3. |
Gallinule's long toes make it possible to walk on
lily pads - one of the few birds able to do so! |
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| 4. |
Although
these birds seem like reluctant fliers, they are
found around the world. |
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| |
|
|
| Reader's
Digest. Book of North American Birds. Reader's
Digest Association, Inc. Pleasantville, New York,
1990. |
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Perrins, C.M. and Alex Middleton. The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Prentice Hall
Press, 1990. |
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Williams, John G. A Field Guide to the Birds
of East and Central Africa. Houghton Mifflin
Co., Boston, 1963.
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| http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2180id.html |
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