Adult: Dark with a green metalic sheen on feathers. Paler, streaked neck and head, with faint blueish facial skin. Long legs and long decurved bill.

Breeding Adult: Dark chestnut bronze, looking black in poor light, with glossy purple cast. Skin around base of bill is pale blue.

Immature: Like adult although dull, lacking chestnut feathering.

Habitat: Salt and freshwater marshes and wet prairies.

A Florida resident.

Text by Mary Jean Rogers, West Volusia Audubon.