Distinguishing between types of pouldeau

Published 6:19 am Sunday, February 21, 2016

Since I’ve had more time and desire to be in the marsh over the last few years, I’ve taken a greater interest in the birds that I used to group into one category, one I called pouldeau (Cajun for water hen).

With the help of a bird book (Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America), several hunter friends and some members of the Gulf Coast Bird Club, I can now identify those birds as a coot, a moorhen (used to be called common gallinule) and a purple gallinule.

They are the most populous of the birds in the marsh.

In Larry Reynolds’ most recent state survey of waterfowl for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, there were estimated to be 1.2 million coots. Here in Southwest Louisiana the total was 287,000.

There are hunting seasons for all, the daily bag limit 15 for each. However, most hunters don’t worry about them as the only part of the bird that is good for cooking is the gizzard, which is large and can be added to a gumbo, stew or fried.

Hunters see them as something of a security when hunting ducks because they will congregate on water. Some hunters are using coot decoys to attract ducks.

At times in the marsh you can see 75 or more coots swimming shoulder to shoulder. I’ve also noticed that the purple gallinule is a pretty good lily pad jumper, having the ability to walk its way across a pond jumping from pad to pad.

Mohammed El-Mogazi, treasurer for the local bird club, provided more on the birds which are members of the rail family.

Coots: They are charcoal gray with blacker heads and bright white bills, are excellent swimmers and often mix with ducks. They have strong yellow-green legs and the feet are not webbed, having broad lobes of skin along the toes that help it kick through the water. When swimming, the coot looks like a small duck, but on land it is more like a chicken walking without waddling.

They are widely distributed over most of North America and are considered residents of our area, abundant year round ,except during summer months. It is a slow meticulous forager, eating various aquatic plants (algae, duckweed) and on land will feed on seeds, grass and waste grain. They often become tame, accepting food scraps and bits of bread from people. It is an awkward and clumsy flier, requiring long running takeoffs to get airborne.

Moorhen or common Gallinule: These are two names for the same bird and have changed back and forth. Which is listed in your bird field guide depends on the publishing date. Some call it the chicken of the marsh. It has a black head and neck with a red forehead and shield and a red bill. The back is brownish olive and underparts are slate with a white streaking on the flanks, which gives it a white line along the sides, a distinguishing ID from the purple gallinule and the coot. They do not swim out in the open water as much as the coots and will often hid in the reeds and thick weeds. It has long toes that makes it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation.

Purple Gallinule: These are marsh birds of warm climate and usually here between April and September. They are similar in size to the common gallinule. It is similar in size and shape as the common gallinule but it has bright purplish-blue head, neck and underparts with a yellow and red bill. It has extremely long toes that allows it to walk on lily pads without sinking. Its flight is labored and slow with dangling feet. They are highly migratory, wintering from south Florida to Argentina and are known for their long distance vagrancy, having been seen in all seasons in such unexpected places as Iceland and the Galapagos Islands.