Dawn
The first thing that catches your attention about the grey headed swamp hen is the iridescent colors of his feathers. The dusky blue black feathers shimmer with a purple and blue sheen in sunlight. The red facial shied as it is called adds a nice contrast to the color of the bird.
The beak is red unlike the moorhen which has a yellow tip. These birds like the Eurasian coot have a sharp cry.
They are always found among the weeds, here it is the water hyacinths that this bird in the thumb nail is standing on.
When startled they display their clumsiness and waddle around or flap their wings awkwardly to fly.
They have red eyes and long pinkish legs with three toes.
The males have a wonderful courtship dance complete with a bunch of weeds in the beak, bowing down to the female and making loud chuckling noises.
I have seen a swamp hen fly once, they look ridiculous with feet dangling down. They are low flying birds.
The grey headed swamp hen are different from the purple moorhens, they have a distinct grayish head.
Another waterbird you might be interested in
https://virily.com/virily_poll/the-eurasian-coot/
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Question of
Have you seen a swamphen before?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you like watching birds and learning about them?
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Yes
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No
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I haven’t seen this bird before. It looks beautiful.
It really does, the colors are amazingly eye catching.
is that ground squishy?
I am always amazed at the colors of birds! What does this one eat?
The grey headed swamp hen like the other moorhens feeds on insect , snails, mollusks, frogs etc. Thanks for asking the question Doc. I wonder how I missed that in my post.
i figured it was so that those of us who actually read the article, had a fun question to ask!
So true, there are very few that really read. Thanks for taking the time.
those that do not read make me sad.
Oops missed the other question.
Yes , it is marshland now once a part of a lake.
it kind of had that march feel. thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
sorry I asked so man!
That is an amazing and wonderful looking bird. I never saw one before.
I am glad to have introduced you to the grey headed swamphen. 🙂
I have quite a few lakes and ponds in my area where many birds are just difficult to paint
Birds and butterflies are difficult to photograph unless they are at your feeder.
They are very restless and I have no patience
They are restless, thankfully I have the patience.
A new bird and I love learning about birds and nature.
I love taking pictures of birds and learning about them too.
What an amazing bird and beautiful photos! The water hyacinths are a wonderful background for it!
While water hyacinths are killing our lakes these birds find them to be great nesting beds.
I see this bird for the first time. I like to look at birds and have lots of pictures with them.
You sound like me. I am so happy to find people who love birds. Thank you dear Lacho.