common gallinule

Description:

Length 30-36 cm; Mass 230-340 g (males larger than females). Adult: Slaty black, except for a white under-tail and white streaks on the flanks. Eye red; bill red with a greenish-yellow tip; frontal shield red; legs and feet yellowish green with a red garter above the tarsal joint. The red shield and red bill with yellow tip are diagnostic (the Lesser Moorhen is smaller and has a yellow bill with red on the culmen and frontal shield only). Immature: Above dark brown; below buffy, paler in centre of belly; iris grayish brown; bill and frontal shield greenish brown; legs and feet greenish, garter yellow. Chick: Downy black; feathers around neck tipped white; skin above eye blue; bill red, tip yellow; small frontal shield red; legs and feet blackish brown

Habitat:

spotted at wetland in Texas. Virtually any kind of freshwater: marshlands and swamps, lakeshores and riverbanks, often in urban parks and sewage ponds. Frequently feeds on grass adjacent to water.