Common Moorhen
Photo: Alexis Lours · CC BY 4.0

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Common Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

LCLeast Concern
Family
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots (Rallidae)
Order
Gruiformes

Overview

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests; generally it is one of the most common Old World rail species, together with the Eurasian coot in some regions.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.