This species is not especially common in the mountains or in the Cumberland Plateau or Ohio River Valley to the north. Occasional birds may pass through the Park but it is unlikely that this species has a significant interaction with the Park ecosystem. Park Observations database includes a record of a Purple Gallinule [Porphyrio martinica (Linnaeus)] that was present just outside the Park boundary in Gatlinburg for over a week in spring of 1967, but it was never observed within the Park.

The lone park record was a road-killed bird at 1370m elevation on the North Carolina side of the Newfound Gap Road at the end of April, 1955 (Stupka 1963).

References:

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of Great Smoky Mountains National Park . University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville .

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.