It’s been hot. High-in-the-mid-90s-F-every-day hot. The humidity has been hovering at about 100% at dawn, so it feels just a wee bit oppressive. Maybe the heat wave was behind the aggressive behavior I saw among a few Common Gallinules at Gemini Springs last week? An overcast sky really kept the air saturated. It was sticky and uncomfortable. And everybody was kung-fu fighting, basically.
One pair was already going at it when a second pair started to mix it up. You can see the bird in the center of the photo spewing forth a murderous war cry. A millisecond later – BATTLE!
![Gallinule War!](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/9104938770_f2f68b8db8_z.jpg)
![Gallinule War!](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5457/9104938562_d8a3b98848_z.jpg)
Scuffles were sometimes initiated by aggressive wing-waving and sunken body position.
![Gallinule War!](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/9104938370_5b49a215b2_z.jpg)
![Gallinule War!](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/9102710983_8ee14e646c_z.jpg)
After the flapping, the big guns came out – those crazy gallinule feet.
![Gallinule War!](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/9102710799_48d5969c6e_z.jpg)
![Gallinule War!](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/9104937770_2416667536_z.jpg)
![Gallinule War!](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/9104937550_35ae70b8d5_z.jpg)
You can see posturing, grabbing, flapping and finally what I would call sailboating in this video, which was taken after all of the above photos were snapped.