Common moorhen

Scientific name: Gallinula chloropus

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Dark slate-grey plumage overall with a distinctive bright red frontal shield and yellow-tipped red bill. White flank stripe and undertail coverts are prominent; legs are long and greenish-yellow. Males slightly larger than females but sexes otherwise similar.

Size and weight

Adult weight 270–420 g (males typically 310–420 g, females 270–330 g); body length 32–35 cm.

Habitat

Common moorhens inhabit freshwater wetlands including marshes, reed beds, lakeshores, ponds, and slow-moving rivers with dense emergent vegetation. They favour areas with shallow water (0.3–1 m depth) and accessible terrestrial cover.

Distribution

Widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, with populations ranging from sea level to 2,400 m elevation. Prefer temperate and subtropical wetlands; northern populations partially migratory.

Diet

Omnivorous, feeding on aquatic vegetation, seeds, insects, small fish, and invertebrates; forage more heavily on plant matter in winter and insects in breeding season.

Behaviour

Diurnal and crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk. Solitary or in small family groups; territorial on breeding grounds. Move by walking along reedy margins or swimming; take to flight reluctantly, preferring to run or hide.

Hunting tips

Look for flattened vegetation trails through reed beds and droppings at water margins—moorhens create predictable pathways. Approach quietly from downwind along vegetated banks during early morning or late afternoon when birds move to feed. Still-hunt near reed edges where they forage; use decoys or calls to draw birds into open water or onto banks.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 3 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.