While backing up image files yesterday, I came across an image of a Purple Gallinule that I photographed in Everglades National Park. It was a rewarding discovery, because it brought back memories of that visit to the Everglades and the pleasure of watching the Purple Gallinule scooting across lily pads in search of food.
I was in the Everglades very early, when I found the Purple Gallinule, and the morning sun was brightly illuminating its colorful iridescent feathers. Gallinules live in swamps and wetlands in southeast United States. They eat a wide variety of food including frogs, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders and water plants. The Purple Gallinule is not a very good flyer, but it is an excellent wader. It uses its long toes to distribute its weight, when walking on lily pads.