Bird name:

Common Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

Order

GRUIFORMES

Family

Rails and Coots (Rallidae)

Code 4

COMO

Code 6

GALCHL

ITIS

176284

Breeding Location:

Marshes, freshwater, Reservoirs, Fields, flooded agricultural

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary to semicolonial

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Buff with red brown or olive spots

Number of Eggs:

2 - 13

Incubation Days:

18 - 21

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Dead vegetation lined with grass and leaves.

Migration:

Some migrate

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General

Common Moorhen: Medium-sized, chicken-like marsh bird with gray-brown back and slate-gray head, neck, breast, and belly. Upper flanks show distinct white line. Yellow-tipped red bill is short with red frontal plate extending onto forehead. Tail is white below divided by gray line. Long legs and unwebbed feet are yellow-green. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is paler gray with white throat and gray bill.

Range and Habitat

Common Moorhen: Breeds over much of North America through Central America and northern South America. Spends winters from the southern Atlantic states to South America. Prefers habitat with large areas of open water; common near reservoirs, ponds, freshwater marshes, and flooded grasslands.

Breeding and Nesting

Common Moorhen: Two to thirteen buff eggs with red brown or olive spots are laid in a well-rimmed cup nest constructed of dead vegetation and lined with grass and leaves. Nest is usually located over the water and anchored to stems of emergent vegetation, but is occasionally built on the ground or in a low shrub. Both parents incubate the eggs for 18 to 21 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Common Moorhen: Feeds on freshwater plants, seeds, and small invertebrates. Forages while swimming or and walking in shallows or atop floating vegetation; active day and night. Swallows sand and gravel to help grind food.

Vocalization

Common Moorhen: Makes loud, hen-like squeaks, clucks, screams and a single, explosive, frog-like "kup."

Similar Species

Common Moorhen: American Coot is darker, has pale bill, and lacks white line on flanks.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America