Common Moorhen

How to recognise it

• Dark plumage with white streaks along the flanks and white sides under the tail
• Red bill and red frontal shield reaching far up, with a yellow bill tip
• Yellow-green legs with a red band above the intertarsal joint, and long toes
• Sexes look alike, young birds are grey-brown with a white chin and no red shield

Call and song

Its calls include a gurgling "kjorrrl", a sharp "ki-keck" and a cracked "kreck-kreck-kreck" repeated for a long time, also at night in flight. When it feels threatened it can hiss loudly.

Where and when

The Common Moorhen breeds in Sweden and is a partial migrant. It is most numerous from Skåne to Uppland and occurs in smaller numbers up to Dalarna and northwards along the Baltic coast. Most Swedish birds move south for the winter, mainly to France, Spain and the British Isles, but the species is reported all year round. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Jönköping, Stockholm and Skåne.

Food and behaviour

It eats many different plant parts and small aquatic animals, which it finds in or near the water. It moves jerkily and often holds its tail fairly high when walking. It often keeps hidden, but in some places it can be fairly tame. The nest is a basket-shaped structure placed directly on the ground in dense vegetation. During migration it flies mainly at night.