The Dusky Moorhen is a medium-sized, dark grey-black water bird with a white undertail. It has a red bill with a yellow tip and a red facial shield.
Dusky Moorhen Chick
Young birds are much duller and browner than adults, with a greenish bill and face shield.
Juvenile Dusky Moorhen
The Purple Swamphen is a large rail. It is mainly dusky black above, with a broad dark blue collar, and dark blue to purple below. As the Purple Swamphen walks, it flicks its tail up and down, revealing its white undertail. The bill is red and robust, and the legs and feet orange-red.
For such a bulky bird, the Swamphen is an accomplished flier and will readily take to the air to escape danger. In flight, the long legs and elongated toes trail behind or hang underneath the body. Purple Swamphens are proficient swimmers, but prefer to wander on the edges of the water, among reeds and on floating vegetation.
Striding out...
Juvenile Purple Swamphen
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16 comments:
Wonderful pictures of this bird..... i like the colors very much Liz.
warm greetings, Joop
Wonderful photos!! Love the chich walking on the water lilies!
The purple swamp hens do have a remarkable set of colours on them!
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Very lovely series, and that little Moorhen chick, what a cutie!
A good post, Liz. I like both these birds, and love the silky colours in their feathers. Great pictures.
Liz, thank you for visiting NatureStop.Your shots are great!!lovely post. Thanks for sharing.
Shantana
Liz- I can see the purple swamp-hen is a cousin of New Zealand's Takahe and Pukeko- found your pics most interesting- thanks !
Incredible beautiful pictures you show.
Wishing you a good day
Hanne Bente / hbt.finus.dk
Great series!! That chick is cute. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Liz, thank you for visiting Tailfeather Chronicles and following! Was checking out the rest of your blog, love it and am following!
You should go through your archives more often, these are great shots! My favorite is the Dusky Moorheen Chick, standing on the waterlily...soo cute!
very interesting birds! i think your purple swamphen is the same as what we'd call the purple gallinule. so cool!
These are wonderful. You have interesting birds there which are a treat to see for someone like me in the U.S. I am very impressed with the moon shot in the post above. Outstanding!
They remind me of our American Coot, but much more colorful. Love the shot of the chick!
All great shots. The "The End" caption with that photo actually made me laugh out loud.
A great series of photos of both birds. The chick is really cute. Don't know why you didn't show these photos earlier. They are great! It's not easy to get the dark shades of black.
Such interesting photos and brilliantly taken!
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