Common moorhen
Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird of the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes. It is an omnivore of wetland habitat with a terrestrial lifestyle and sedentary migration behaviour.
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Quick facts about the common moorhen
It falls in the small size class, with an adult body mass of 339.6 g (from 324.4 to 377 g in reported values) and a wingspan of 52 cm. Its clutch size is 7 eggs, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 20 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 324.4 g – 377 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 52 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 12.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18.6 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.8 – 7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common moorhen?
Photos of the common moorhen
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the common moorhen live?
Not recorded
What is the common moorhen?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Common moorhen” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_moorhen&oldid=1378343178), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common moorhen sound like?
Is the common moorhen endangered?
The common moorhen is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common moorhen classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusGallinula
- SpeciesGallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Fulica chloropus, Gallinula brodkorbi, Gallinula chloropus turkestanica, Gallinula ochropus, Gallinula parvifrons
Other names and names in other languages (76)
- Common gallinuleEnglish
- Eurasian moorhenEnglish
- MoorhenEnglish
- GrootwaterhoenderAfrikaans
- دجاجة الماءArabic
- دجاجة الماء الاوراسيةArabic
- دجاجة الماء خضراء الأقدامArabic
- gallinetaAsturian
- Чаротніца (або зялёнаножка)Belarusian
- ЗеленоножкаBulgarian
- Douryar voutinBreton
- polla d'aigua comunaCatalan
- slípka zelenonoháCzech
- iar ddwrWelsh
- iâr ddŵrWelsh
- Ieir DwrWelsh
- RørhøneDanish
- grønbenet rørhøneDanish
- Rørhøne (Grønbenet)Danish
- TeichhuhnGerman
- TeichralleGerman
- ΝερόκοταGreek
- Κοινή ΝερόκοταGreek
- ordinara galinoloEsperanto
- Gallineta comúnSpanish
- Gallineta frente rojaSpanish
- taitEstonian
- چنگر نوک سرخPersian
- liejukanaFinnish
- SevhønaFaroese
- gallinule poule-d'eauFrench
- Gallinule poule-d’eauFrench
- cearc uisceScottish Gaelic
- cearc-uisgeScottish Gaelic
- cearcan-uisgeScottish Gaelic
- Kiark ushteyManx
- סופיתHebrew
- mlakušaCroatian
- vízityúkHungarian
- Mandar batuIndonesian
- SefhænaIcelandic
- gallinella d'acquaItalian
- バンJapanese
- 쇠물닭Korean
- LagyarCornish
- nendrinė vištelėLithuanian
- ūdensvistiņaLatvian
- AretakaMalagasy
- AkohondranoMalagasy
- зеленонога блатна кокошкаMacedonian
- പട്ടക്കോഴിMalayalam
- waterhoenDutch
- sivhøneNorwegian Nynorsk
- kokoszka wodnaPolish
- kokoszka (zwyczajna)Polish
- kokoszka zwyczajnaPolish
- galinha-d'água-comumPortuguese
- galinha-de-água-comumPortuguese
- găinuşă de apăRomanian
- găinuşă de baltăRomanian
- камышницаRussian
- LáttovuonccisNorthern Sami
- sliepočka vodnáSlovak
- zelenonoga tukalicaSlovenian
- bariuAlbanian
- pula e ujitAlbanian
- Barska kokicaSerbian
- rörhönaSwedish
- นกอีล้ำThai
- uwisFilipino
- SutavuğuTurkish
- saz tavuguTurkish
- saz tavuğuTurkish
- Курочка водянаUkrainian
- 黑水鸡Chinese
- 紅冠水雞〔黑水雞〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaTAXREFTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common moorhen
Other species in the same genus Gallinula.
Dusky moorhen
Gallinula tenebrosa
Samoan moorhen
Gallinula pacifica
Tristan moorhen
Gallinula nesiotis
Makira woodhen
Gallinula silvestris
Gough moorhen
Gallinula comeri
Common gallinule
Gallinula galeata
CompareCommon moorhen vs Dusky moorhenCommon moorhen vs Samoan moorhenCommon moorhen vs Tristan moorhenCommon moorhen vs Makira woodhen
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common moorhen?
The common moorhen is a bird of the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes. Other English names for it are moorhen, common gallinule and Eurasian moorhen.
How heavy is the common moorhen?
The common moorhen has an adult body mass of 339.6 g, with reported values from 324.4 to 377 g. Its wingspan is 52 cm.
What does the common moorhen eat?
The common moorhen is an omnivore.
What habitat does the common moorhen live in?
The common moorhen lives in wetland habitat and has a terrestrial lifestyle. Its migration behaviour is sedentary.
Is the common moorhen endangered?
No. The common moorhen is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common moorhen live?
The common moorhen has a lifespan of 12.83 years, with values up to 18.6 years reported.
How many eggs does the common moorhen lay?
The common moorhen lays 7 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 20 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-moorhen
“Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-moorhen.
@misc{common_moorhen_2026,
title = {Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-moorhen},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}