The purple gallinule, also called the swamp hen, can be found walking atop the vegetation of freshwater marshes South America as well as Florida. They take advantage of their large feet and light weight to walk where most everything else would have to swim, which makes foraging for snails, bugs and small fish much easier. They even build their nests floating atop the marshes, which protects their eggs and young from both underwater predators and land based predators. As is often the case in nature, success sometimes is found on the boundaries between habitats.