| Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata (aka Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus) Brazilian name: frango-d'água-comum Chilean name: Tagüita del norte |
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The Common Gallinule is widely distributed in the New World. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. 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 7 sub-species which vary slightly in size and colouration. The sub-species in Brazil (photos 1 to 3 and 5 to 8) is G. g. galeata which has a darker back. 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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