Wanderer: Northeast Harbor Apr 1, 1968, Long Island Jun 30, 1977, and Beaver Dam Pond Aug 10-17, 1979, all adults, and an immature Bar Harbor Jan 18, 2021.
Miscellany: Purple Gallinule is one of the world's great non-seabird wanderers. From its breeding range, South Carolina west along the Gulf coast to east Texas and south to Northern South America, these gaudy marsh birds have found their way to Greenland, Norway, the Azores, the Galapagos, South Georgia Is. and repeatedly, South Africa. They occur regularly in the Northeast in spring, adults having significantly overshot their southeastern U.S. breeding range, and early fall, mostly immatures wandering far from home.
It's fascinating that Maine and the Maritimes, in particular, have as well a long history of winter occurrences. In addition to the Jan 2021 bird, there are records Dec 27, 1978 from Deer Isle and Jan 8, 2014, from Trenton. Given the species' extraordinary pattern of vagrancy, some think these winter birds originated in southern South America and dramatically overshot on their northbound migrations or drought-related repositionings.
Last Updated: March 29th, 2022