| Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) |
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The Common Moorhen is widely distributed across a large part of the world but is missing from the higher latitudes and Australia. It is found in freshwater wetlands, rivers, ponds, lakes, etc., where there is some vegetation cover. | |||
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At a distance it looks black with a bright red shield and bill with a yellow tip. It has a white stripe on the flanks and very obvious white undertail-coverts prominently displayed under its flicking tail. There are 12 sub-species which vary slightly in size and colouration. The sub-species in Brazil (photos 1 to 3 and 5) is G. c. galeata which has a darker back than the nominate European sub-species. It also has a squarish rather than rounded edge to the top of the shield. |
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The 4th photo was taken in Cuba and shows a much browner back. It is probably the resident sub-species G. c. cerceris though it may be an over-wintering G. c. cachinnans from North America. Photo 6 taken at the coast in northern Chile is of the sub-species G. c. pauxilla. | |||
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