Common Gallinule
by Carol Montoya
Title
Common Gallinule
Artist
Carol Montoya
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Common Gallinule
This Common Gallinule was building a nest to help with four baby chicks in Merritt Island Refuge. The baby chicks along with another adult and a juvenile swam from mangrove to mangrove as alligators were present in the water.
"The Common Gallinule swims like a duck and walks atop floating vegetation like a rail with its long and slender toes. This boldly marked rail has a brilliant red shield over the bill and a white racing stripe down its side. It squawks and whinnies from thick cover in marshes and ponds from Canada to Chile, peeking in and out of vegetation. This species was formerly called the Common Moorhen and is closely related to moorhen species in the Old World.
One cool fact about the Common Gallinule is its long toes that make it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation. The toes have no lobes or webbing to help with swimming, but the gallinule is a good swimmer anyway."
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Uploaded
June 29th, 2018
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Viewed 452 Times - Last Visitor from Englewood, CO on 04/02/2024 at 12:45 AM
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