Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

Family:

Rails, crakes and coots

Length:

32cm to 35cm

Wingspan:

50cm to 55cm

Weight:

250g to 400g

About Moorhens

Moorhens - often referred to as marsh hens - are medium-sized water bird part and part of the crane family. They have long green legs, red and yellow beaks and are blackish all over. Upon closer inspection, moorhens do have dark brown back and wings, white stripes on their flanks and a blueish belly.

What does a Moorhen eat?

Their diets consist of small fish, insects, water plants, fruit, grasses, seeds, snails and worms.

Other birds in the Rails, crakes and coots family

Purple Gallinule

Water Rail

Spotted Crake

Corncrake

A member of the family of coots, crakes and rails, the corncrake is unique in that it lives on dry land and prefers hayfields and dense cover as opposed to waterside habitats.

Coot

The Eurasian coot is sometimes mistaken for a duck but is in fact a wading bird with splayed toes as opposed to webbed feet. When foraging for food under the water ducks will eat their food whilst still submerged whereas coots will surface first and then eat. There are four sub-species of the Eurasian coot and eleven separate coot species.