The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a medium-sized water bird in the rail family that inhabits wetlands across parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. With their characteristic red frontal shield and yellow-tipped red bill, common moorhens are a familiar sight around the fringes of lakes, rivers, parks and other waterbodies. But exactly where is the geographic range for this widespread species? Here we take a closer look at the native habitat and range of the common moorhen.
Natural Habitat
The common moorhen prefers still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water with ample vegetation. Their ideal habitats include:
- Marshes
- Wet meadows
- The edges of lakes and ponds
- Backwaters alongside rivers
- Reservoirs
- Flooded fields or wet agricultural areas
- Irrigation ditches
- Parks and gardens with ponds
Within these wetland environments, common moorhens seek out dense stands of aquatic vegetation. The vegetation provides cover and seclusion for nesting and roosting, and lots of places for the moorhens to forage for food.
Native Geographic Range
The common moorhen has an extremely wide distribution across parts of:
- Europe
- Asia
- Africa
- Australia
In Europe, their breeding range extends across almost the entire continent. It stretches from Iceland and the United Kingdom in the northwest, throughout central and southern Europe, and eastward to Russia. The common moorhen is absent only from northernmost Scandinavia and some of the smaller outlying European islands.
In Asia, the breeding range extends from Turkey eastward across southern Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia. The northern boundary includes central Russia, Kazakhstan, northern India, Nepal, northern Myanmar, and southern China.
In Africa, common moorhens are native across the northern countries from Morocco to Egypt and Sudan. They are also found widely in sub-Saharan Africa, except for the driest desert regions.
In Australia, the common moorhen is found across the northern and eastern parts of the country. Its range extends southward to about the New South Wales-Victoria border. It is also found in New Zealand.
Some key areas where common moorhens occur across their wide native range include:
Europe
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Spain
- Italy
- Greece
- Russia
- The Netherlands
Asia
- Russia
- Kazakhstan
- China
- India
- Philippines
- Indonesia
Africa
- Morocco
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Sudan
- Kenya
- South Africa
Australia and New Zealand
- Australia
- New Zealand
Breeding Range Extensions and Introduced Populations
In addition to its very wide native range across parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, the common moorhen has been introduced and become established in some new regions beyond where it naturally occurred historically.
Some areas where common moorhens have been introduced and now breed include:
- United States (first introduced in the late 1800s and now found across much of the lower 48 states as well as Hawaii)
- Canada (first introduced in the 1920s and now found across southern parts of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces)
- Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Israel)
- Japan
- New Caledonia
- French Polynesia
- Fiji
- Bermuda
- Bahamas
- Cayman Islands
In their introduced ranges, common moorhens can be found inhabiting similar wetland habitat types as where they occur naturally, including marshlands, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, ditches, and sluggish streams with abundant vegetation. Introduced populations tend to be centered in areas with warmer climates, as the birds are not as cold-tolerant as some other rail species.
The expansion of the common moorhen’s range through introductions illustrates its adaptability to thrive in suitable habitat well outside its native breeding grounds.
Wintering Distribution
During the winter months, common moorhens that bred in the northern parts of the range migrate south to warmer areas. However, those that nested farther south, in locations with milder climates, often remain in the same region year-round.
Some key details about the winter distribution:
- In Europe, moorhens from Iceland, the UK, Scandinavia, and Russia migrate south to southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
- In Asia, the northern breeding populations in Russia, Kazakhstan, northern China, and northern India migrate south to southern China, southern India, and southeast Asia.
- Moorhens in far northern Africa migrate south to sub-Saharan Africa.
- Breeding birds in southern Australia migrate north in winter toward the equator.
- Some common moorhens make very long migrations. For example, birds nesting in Russia may winter as far south as South Africa.
So while common moorhens nest across a vast swath of Europe and Asia, the core wintering range becomes centered further south, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa but also widely across southern Asia and throughout southern Europe. The migratory tendencies of this species are quite complex, with some populations traveling huge distances while others are year-round residents.
Key Wintering Locations
Some important wintering sites and regions for common moorhens include:
Europe and the Middle East
- Southern Spain
- Italy
- Greece
- Israel
- Egypt
- Tunisia
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Chad
- Nigeria
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- South Africa
Southern Asia
- India
- Southern China
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
Habitat and Range Highlights
To summarize key details about the common moorhen’s distribution:
- Has an extremely widespread native breeding range across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia in freshwater wetlands.
- Partially migratory, with northern breeding populations migrating south to warmer regions in winter.
- Core wintering grounds are in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia.
- Some resident populations remain in the same region year-round in milder climates.
- Introduced and established populations occur in parts of North America, Middle East, Japan, and various islands.
- Favors densely vegetated wetland habitats like marshes, ponds, lakes, sluggish streams, and flooded fields.
The common moorhen is a broadly distributed water bird adept at inhabiting diverse wetland environments across an expansive range encompassing Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia. Tracking the movements of populations between breeding and wintering grounds reveals the complex migratory connectivity of this species across continents. With both native and introduced populations worldwide, the common moorhen has demonstrated its adaptability to thrive in suitable watery habitat across an exceptionally wide geographic scale.
Conclusion
In summary, the common moorhen has a vast geographic range that spans much of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. This medium-sized water bird occurs across a diversity of wetland habitat types like marshes, lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds, and flooded fields.
While some populations are year-round residents, common moorhens that breed at higher latitudes migrate south for the winter to warmer regions. Important wintering locations include sub-Saharan Africa, southern Europe, southern Asia, and northern Australia.
Introduced populations are also established in parts of North America, the Middle East, Japan, and various islands. The common moorhen’s expansive natural distribution combined with human-assisted range expansions illustrates this species’ adaptability to live successfully across a remarkably extensive geographic scale in freshwater wetland ecosystems.
