Common Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
Grønbenet rørhøne er en fugleart i familien vandhøns. Arten er udbredt over hele verden, bortset fra Australien.
Dark grey-black waterbird with browner wings. The marks are the red bill with a yellow tip and the red frontal shield, the green legs, a white stripe along the flanks, and white undertail feathers with a black centre.
Can be confused with
- Eurasian Coot — Coot has a white bill and white frontal shield — not red — is uniformly sooty black with no white flank stripe, and lacks the Moorhen’s green legs.
Plumage and variation
Summer and winter: The bill is at its brightest red with a yellow tip in the breeding season.
Juvenile: Juvenile is browner and lacks the red frontal shield entirely.
Voice
A penetrating "kryrrk"; startled birds give a sharp "keick-keick", and threatened birds hiss loudly. Also a wide range of gargling calls.
Behaviour
Forages beside or in the water, walks out on lily pads and upends like a duck; flicks its tail characteristically, flashing the white undertail. The nest is a low cup hidden among reeds and sedge. Territorial when breeding.
When and where
Breeds at lakes, watercourses and reed swamps in Denmark, though the Danish breeding population is listed as vulnerable on the Red List.
Facts
Wingspan
52 cm
Conservation status
ikke truet
Relatives
Family
rails and crakes
Rallidae
Order
cranes and rails
Gruiformes
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