“After a bath, the Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio viridis) walked up a dead branch for an extended preening session.
“The waterhen likes to spread wings and shake them from side to side to dry out.
“This offered an opportunity to image the crown. Did not appreciate the central crown deep purple band previously.
“A short video can be viewed above.
“Also recorded it feeding on a mollusc. Classical use of the foot to assit in anchorign prey and getting traction (above, below).”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
21th May 2013
Location: Tambun Interior, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Fish farming, ex-mining pools, limestone hills nearby
Gretchen
Thanks for the helpful pictures and video. I hadn’t seen a rail using its feet to eat a mollusc before, so that was a particularly interesting shot.