Purple Gallinule

Status Rare vagrant. The first occurrence was a specimen taken near Halifax on 30 January 1869 (Jones 1870); Piers (1897) mentions three other nineteenth-century specimens. Three more were reported to 1960, and 21 since then. Nine have turned up in May, five in January, four in July, two each in March, April and June, and one each in February, August, September and October. They have occurred in various parts of the province, including Sable Island (four records) and on a ship off Cape Breton Island on 10 January 1984.

Remarks With head, neck and breast a rich metallic purple, it is equipped with long legs for efficient wading in shallow waters. A bird of tropical and subtropical America, its occurrence in Nova Scotia reflects the species' tendency to wander north of its normal range.