Page 172 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2022

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
story and photos by John N. Felsher
Mississippi sportsmen can hunt abundant game with little pressure and very liberal limits for several species that many people probably don’t even know exist.
The most common and widespread of the two gallinules, common gallinules or moorhens closely resemble American coots with greenish-gray bodies, charcoal tops and white trimmings. Its most striking feature, a bright orange chicken- like bill tipped in yellow distinguishes it from coots and ducks. A red forehead patch makes another excellent field mark.
One of the most striking game birds, purple gallinules exhibit blue and green body feathers, purple heads, long yellow
legs, white rumps and red bills with yellow tips. Bright blue forehead patches distinguish purple gallinules from their drab common cousins. Both gallinule species thrive in freshwater marshes, reedy river shorelines and other wetlands.
The largest of the rails, king rails also prefer freshwater
marshes to brackish or salty systems. Sporting long, slightly curved bills, kings show rich chestnut and cinnamon coloring on their faces, necks and breasts.
Also called marsh hens, clapper rails look similar to their regal cousins, but with grayish-brown under parts, chestnut backs and grayish-white bars under their rumps. Clappers prefer brackish to salty marshes. They thrive in tidal marshy deltas of coastal rivers like the Pearl and Pascagoula. People often hear their loud cackling reverberating over the grass.
Sportsmen might also encounter two diminutive rail species. About the size of a quail, sora rails feature dark grayish-brown upperparts with black throats, blue-gray faces and black and white stripes on their lower flanks with chicken-like bills. Although the most widespread and common of the rail family, soras rarely venture far from their thick vegetative jungles.
More often heard than seen, diminutive sora rails make a
172 | September 2022 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living