Common Moorhen Identification Guide
Its scientific name is 'Gallinula chloropus', from the family Rallidae (order Gruiformes)
What I look like
The Common Moorhen is of medium size, a bit smaller than the Common Coot.
It has a dark slate-gray head and body with a brownish area on top.
A lateral line of some white feathers delineates these two dark shades.
Its bill is red with a yellow tip and has a red frontal shield.
It has red eyes.
Its tail is fairly long with a white underside and a black median stripe.
Its legs are greenish, unwebbed, with long toes, allowing it to walk on floating vegetation.
Males and females are similar, but the male is a bit larger.
Juveniles are gray-brown with a whitish chin and throat…
They also have a dark bill, eyes, and legs.
My songs, my calls
The Common Moorhen has a varied repertoire of calls.
The most frequent is a brief, piercing, gurgling call "kyourrrl" that reveals the bird's presence in the reeds.
Often at night, in flight, it repeats a trisyllabic sound "krèk-krèk-krèk".
Its alarm call is sharp, loud, and piercing. "kurk" "kirek" "kièk". It can be heard fleeing on the water.
In flight and at night in spring, soft chuckling sounds can be heard.
How I behave
The Common Moorhen is very shy.
It lives hidden but is easily observed in the tall grass that borders the water.
When it walks, it raises and bobs its tail.
When it swims, it bobs its head.
It is capable of diving for forty-five seconds, but it is a less proficient diver than the Common Coot.
It runs on the water surface to take off and moves in the air in a direct, fast, and powerful manner.
How I reproduce
The Common Moorhen builds its nest in dense vegetation.
Its nest is basket-shaped with sometimes a vegetative roof for concealment.
It produces 2 to 3 clutches per year of 5 to 8 eggs.
During the courtship display, the male offers aquatic plant stems to the female and spreads its tail to show its white undertail coverts.
Sometimes violent male fights occur during breeding.
The chicks resemble those of the Common Coot, they are black with a red bill, but without a collar.
What I eat
The Common Moorhen is omnivorous.
It pecks at the vegetation on the water surface.
It sometimes dips its head to eat mollusks and seeds under the leaves.
It can also dive deeper to find roots, seeds, and aquatic plants.
It also feeds on insects, earthworms, tadpoles, and sometimes small fish.
It often searches for food on the ground.
Where to find me
The Common Moorhen is a common species found on small lakes, ponds, pools, and streams with dense vegetation.
In France and Western Europe, it is sedentary.
Populations from northern and eastern Europe are migratory and move west and south to winter.
The Common Moorhen can live for about 15 years.