Common Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
Also known as: Eurasian Moorhen, Moorhen, Common Gallinule, Earasian Moorhen, Polla D'aigua
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Omnivore
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
340 g
About This Species
A dark waterbird with a red-and-yellow bill shield and white flank stripes, recognisable by its jerky swimming action and habit of flicking its tail as it moves along the water's edge. It favours ponds, canals and slow rivers with fringing vegetation, feeding on aquatic plants, insects and seeds, and is often bold enough to approach people at park lakes. Chicks, which are fluffy and black with a bald red-orange head, are conspicuous on the water from late spring into summer.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This is a confiding species around ponds and park lakes, but nesting birds still benefit from a few metres of distance so adults are not forced off eggs or chicks.
- Nests and eggs are protected from intentional disturbance under wildlife law in the UK and the EU, and similar principles apply in much of its wider Eurasian and African range even where specific statutes differ.
- Avoid letting dogs approach the waterline near nests, since flushed adults leave eggs and young exposed to predators.
Seasonal Activity
5,669,903 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
Traits
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 340 g
Photo
(c) Alexis Lours, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alexis Lours
CC-BY-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.