Common moorhen: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the common moorhen lives – recorded in 158 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Gallinula chloropus
Group	Herons, storks, cranes & flamingos
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	158 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Mass	348 g (adult weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Gruiformes
Family	Rallidae

Where does the common moorhen live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the common moorhen in 158 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Nanling Mountains, Africa, Hefei, Buriticupu. In Mauritius it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a common moorhen?

Wikidata records the following for the common moorhen: mass 348 g (adult weight).

Is the common moorhen endangered?

The common moorhen’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the common moorhen?

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird in the order Gruiformes and the family Rallidae, genus Gallinula. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About 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.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Common moorhen (revision 1378343178), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q18847 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).