Common Gallinule

Description:

Also called the Common Moorhen or the Florida Gallinule, this bird is easily identified by its dark plumage and starkly red forehead and beak. (Juveniles however are a brownish gray color). They also have very long toes "that makes it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation. The toes have no lobes or webbing to help in swimming, but the moorhen is a good swimmer anyway."

Habitat:

Marsh: Freshwater or brackish marshes with tall emergent vegetation, ponds, canals, and rice fields. -allaboutbirds

Notes:

Nest: "A wide bowl of grasses and sedges, usually taken from near the nest site. Most commonly anchored to emergent vegetation within a meter of water." Food: "Seeds of grasses and sedges, and some snails."