Purple Gallinule - Another success story in NH!?
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Steve Mirick
11:08 AM (8 hours ago) 11:08 AM
to NHBirds
Purple Gallinules have a rather disastrous history of sightings in New
Hampshire. These "chicken-like" birds of the swamps and marshes of
southeastern United States sometimes get caught up in southerly air
flows and fly up into New England! This most often occurs in late fall,
and sadly, many of these are juvenile birds that can't seem to get back
"home" and they are often sick/injured or dead when they are found in
NH. Consider some of the historic sightings in NH from "Keith & Fox":
1925 - One captured alive on May 1st in Meriden (Plainfield) and
transported to Franklin Park Zoo in Massachusetts where it lived out its
life in captivity!
1973 (Spring) - Bird arrived on fishing boat offshore from Louisiana.
It's final fate was unknown.
1987 - January 25th (!). Bird found near Lee, NH. Died and is now in
UNH collection.
1998 - November 9th. Bird found near Hanover, NH. It was reported to
be "slightly injured" and was captured and brought to Vermont Institute
of Natural Science (VINS). The bird was rehabilitated and FLOWN BACK
SOUTH TO FLORIDA IN AIRPLANE!!
2000 - October 13-16. Found alive and in good condition in Exeter by 15
year-old John Mittermeier. THE ONLY CHASEABLE RECORD OF PURPLE
GALLINULE I know of for NH!
2010 - October 7th. Found dead in Seabrook.
2024 - November 3rd. Photographed from a few feet away on a lawn in
Franklin. Final fate unknown, but I'm guessing it perished.
and that brings us to 2025!
2025 - November 15th. A bird found "huddling in a bush near a Walmart"
in Lebanon!!!! This bird (like the bird in 1998) was brought in to VINS
in Vermont. I hadn't thought anything more about it until I saw the
article below about a sick Purple Gallinule found in New Bedford, MA on
December 19th. That bird had been rehabilitated and was being flown by
airplane back to South Carolina!
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2026/01/09/purple-gallinule-treated-cape-cod-recovery-south-carolina-birds/88086706007/
Reading through the story, I saw a paragraph that sparked my interest.
It said:
> Meanwhile, as the bird continued to recover, wildlife staff learned
> that the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences was also caring for a
> second purple gallinule that had been discovered there. The two
> organizations coordinated to bring the Vermont bird to the center's
> Weymouth hospital so both could make the journey south together.
This 2nd Purple Gallinule would almost certainly have to be OUR Purple
Gallinule from Lebanon that was brought in to VINS!!! This would
therefore be the 2nd Purple Gallinule in New Hampshire history that has
been rehabilitated and flown back south on an airplane!
Let's hope this young bird learns its lesson and doesn't head back north
again next fall/winter!
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
Hampshire. These "chicken-like" birds of the swamps and marshes of
southeastern United States sometimes get caught up in southerly air
flows and fly up into New England! This most often occurs in late fall,
and sadly, many of these are juvenile birds that can't seem to get back
"home" and they are often sick/injured or dead when they are found in
NH. Consider some of the historic sightings in NH from "Keith & Fox":
1925 - One captured alive on May 1st in Meriden (Plainfield) and
transported to Franklin Park Zoo in Massachusetts where it lived out its
life in captivity!
1973 (Spring) - Bird arrived on fishing boat offshore from Louisiana.
It's final fate was unknown.
1987 - January 25th (!). Bird found near Lee, NH. Died and is now in
UNH collection.
1998 - November 9th. Bird found near Hanover, NH. It was reported to
be "slightly injured" and was captured and brought to Vermont Institute
of Natural Science (VINS). The bird was rehabilitated and FLOWN BACK
SOUTH TO FLORIDA IN AIRPLANE!!
2000 - October 13-16. Found alive and in good condition in Exeter by 15
year-old John Mittermeier. THE ONLY CHASEABLE RECORD OF PURPLE
GALLINULE I know of for NH!
2010 - October 7th. Found dead in Seabrook.
2024 - November 3rd. Photographed from a few feet away on a lawn in
Franklin. Final fate unknown, but I'm guessing it perished.
and that brings us to 2025!
2025 - November 15th. A bird found "huddling in a bush near a Walmart"
in Lebanon!!!! This bird (like the bird in 1998) was brought in to VINS
in Vermont. I hadn't thought anything more about it until I saw the
article below about a sick Purple Gallinule found in New Bedford, MA on
December 19th. That bird had been rehabilitated and was being flown by
airplane back to South Carolina!
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2026/01/09/purple-gallinule-treated-cape-cod-recovery-south-carolina-birds/88086706007/
Reading through the story, I saw a paragraph that sparked my interest.
It said:
> Meanwhile, as the bird continued to recover, wildlife staff learned
> that the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences was also caring for a
> second purple gallinule that had been discovered there. The two
> organizations coordinated to bring the Vermont bird to the center's
> Weymouth hospital so both could make the journey south together.
This 2nd Purple Gallinule would almost certainly have to be OUR Purple
Gallinule from Lebanon that was brought in to VINS!!! This would
therefore be the 2nd Purple Gallinule in New Hampshire history that has
been rehabilitated and flown back south on an airplane!
Let's hope this young bird learns its lesson and doesn't head back north
again next fall/winter!
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
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