# Common moorhen (*Gallinula chloropus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-moorhen  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 324.4 g – 377 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 52 cm |
| Lifespan | 12.8 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 18.6 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 20 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5.8 – 7 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Gruiformes
- family: Rallidae
- genus: Gallinula
- species: *Gallinula chloropus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Fulica chloropus*, *Gallinula brodkorbi*, *Gallinula chloropus turkestanica*, *Gallinula ochropus*, *Gallinula parvifrons*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-moorhen