Bird
Purple Gallinule
Porphyrio martinica
A summer resident that nests in Arkansas. Found in 30 of 75 counties, across 4 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 30 of 75 counties
- Habitats
- 4

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 30 of 75 counties
- Habitats
- 4
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Arkansas 4
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Other habitats in its models (58)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (35)
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
Northeast (1)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (22)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Open Water (Brackish/Salt) Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Seasons in Arkansas
- Summer: nests here, in 30 of 75 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 1
- Southern Wild-riceZizaniopsis miliacea
Plant genera in its diet records (1)
- Zizaniopsis Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Arkansas
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 102
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
- Sandhill CraneGrus canadensis
Plants 17
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Oklahoma SedgeCarex oklahomensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Heart Leaf WillowSalix eriocephala
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- White WillowSalix alba
- Zigzag JointvetchAeschynomene rudis
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 76
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
Plants 313
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Swamp Chestnut OakQuercus michauxii
- Canada VioletViola canadensis
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- PondberryLindera melissifolia
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Wolf's BluegrassPoa wolfii
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
Ponds, lakes and their shores
Birds 60
- American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Common MerganserMergus merganser
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
Plants 143
- Mudbank CrowngrassPaspalum dissectum
- Longbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora scirpoides
- Sago PondweedStuckenia pectinata
- Water DawnflowerStylisma aquatica
- Common BladderwortUtricularia macrorhiza
- Horned PondweedZannichellia palustris
- Coastal Plain WillowSalix caroliniana
- Water TupeloNyssa aquatica
- Southern Marsh St. John's-wortTriadenum tubulosum
- Swamp CottonwoodPopulus heterophylla
- KnotgrassPaspalum distichum
- Grassy ArrowheadSagittaria graminea
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Purple Gallinule
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus






















































