Common Moorhen

Latin Name: 
Gallinula chloropus
Category: 
Size: 
32cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Dark grey head and neck; dark brownish-olive above; slatygrey below, white centre of abdomen; fine white border to edge of wing; bright red frontal
shield and base of beak with greenish-yellow tip diagnostic; greenish legs. Usually in small parties; most common in winter; moves amidst marsh vegetation, jerking tail; good swimmer; jerks head as it swims. The larger Eurasian Coot Fulica atra is a widespread resident.

Habitat: 
vegetation and reedcovered ponds, tanks, jheels.
Food: 
seeds and tubers of water plants, insects, molluscs, small fish and frogs.
Distribution: 
throughout the subcontinent, up to about 2,400m in Himalaya; breeds commonly in Kashmir, but also in parts of the peninsula.
Call: 
Call Description: 
occasional loud, harsh prruck…; noisy when breeding, uttering loud croaking notes.
National Status: