In this article I’ll be going over 5 purple birds that can be found throughout Mississippi so, continue reading for a more detailed look at each of these birds below.

• Purple Martin
• Rock Pigeon
• Common Grackle
• Brown Headed Cowbird
• Purple Gallinule

5 Purple Birds In Mississippi

1. Purple Martin (Progne Subis)

• Size: 19 – 20cm
• Weight: 45 – 60 grams
• Wingspan: 39 – 41cm

You’ll find purple martins in all of Mississippi when they breed.

Purple Martins are recognised by their almost entirely purple plumage with the wings and lower half of their body purple, and the remainder a darker blue color. Females on the hand are mostly white and gray with hints of blue on their plumage.

As for where these birds live, it tends to be around open locations that are at least 40 ft. from trees or buildings so, you’ll often see them perching on utility wires and houses throughout the local Texan neighborhood. 

Purple Martins tend to eat mostly flying insects like house flies, crane flies, beetles, moths, butterflies and even dragonflies. Dragonflies in particular are a very important part of their diet.

These avians have been known to live for 13 years but, the average for most probably wouldn’t surpass 6 – 7 years.

2. Rock Pigeon (Columba Livia)

• Size: 30 – 36cm
• Weight: 265 – 380 grams
• Wingspan: 50 – 67cm

You’ll find rock pigeons scattered all across Mississippi on a year round basis. 

Rock pigeons are mostly gray with elements of black on their wings and green plus purple hue across their neck. Females are generally smaller in size and also have a flatter head unlike the males who tend to have a more round head shape.

These pigeons spend the majority of their time around urban parks and neighborhoods, around farms, under highway, railroad bridges as well as near tall rocky cliffs.

In regards to the food rock pigeons eat, they include a variety of seeds, bread crumbs, seed grasses, worms among other insects, berries and acorns.

Rock pigeons tend to live for 6 years in the wild when averaged out.

3. Common Grackle (Quiscalus Quiscula)

• Size: 28 – 34cm
• Weight: 74 – 142 grams
• Wingspan: 36 – 46cm

Common grackles can be spotted in all of Mississippi on a year round basis. 

The common grackle is recognised by their purple head, brown mixed with hints of purple on their wings and back, blue wing tail and chest. Females are mostly a duller darker brown color with small inklings of purple on their body.

These birds tend to spend the majority of their time within wet, open woodlands, marshes as well as in suburbs, parks, and agricultural fields. 

As for the type of food a common grackle eats, it includes eating many forms of crops like corn as well as nearly anything else that catches their eyes such as food foraged from garbage.

The average lifespan for these birds is around 17 years whilst some are able to live till the age of 22.

4. Brown Headed Cowbird (Molothrus Ater)

• Size: 16 – 20cm
• Weight: 38 – 45 grams
• Wingspan: 32 – 38cm

Brown headed cowbirds can be found in all of Mississippi on a year round basis, which includes all the seasons between spring and winter. 

These birds can be recognised by their light brown head, their dark blue/purple wing and body feathers. Females are mostly brown in color.

As for where brown headed cowbirds tend to spend the majority of their time, it would include open grasslands, as well as agricultural, urban, and suburban habitats where grain or cattle-disturbed soil are readily available. 

Brown headed cowbirds mostly consume mostly insects like grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, flies etc as well a number different seeds.

These cowbird are known to live for around 17 years in the wild on the high end.

5. American Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio Martinicus)

• Size: 33 – 37cm
• Weight: 203 – 291 grams
• Wingspan: 55 – 56cm

American purple gallinules can be found in southeast and the central region of Mississippi when they breed, which tends to encompass the spring and summer months. 

Purple gallinules are recognised by their purple neck and chest, their green wings, their dirty yellow colored back, yellow legs and striking red beak. Females on the other hand are a dull brown color.

These purple birds tend to inhabit mostly freshwater marshes that hold water year-round and have sedges, grasses or rushes. Purple gallinules especially prefer areas with dense stands of emergent floating vegetation like the American lotus, water shield, spatterdock, pickerel weed, arrowhead, water pennywort, etc.

As for what their diet consists of, it includes feeding on spiders, mollusks, beetles, bees, worms, snails, dragonflies, leeches, moth larvae as well as frogs, small fish, eggs and nestlings of other birds.

Purple gallinules are known to live for around 22 years in most cases but, some have lived upwards of 25 years old.