Dusky Moorhen

The Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) is a bird in the rail family which occurs in Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia.

The New Guinea birds are smaller, at 25–32cm in length, than the Australian race (35–40 cm, 55–65 cm wingspan). In Indonesia, this species is loosing ground to the closely related Common Moorhen on those islands where both birds occur.

The adult Dusky Moorhen is mainly dark grey-black, with a browner tinge to the upperparts. It has a red frontal shield and yellow-tipped red bill like its Eurasian relative, but lacks the white flank line shown by Common Moorhen, and has orange-yellow rather than yellow legs.

Sexes are similar, but young birds have mid-brown plumage. This is a noisy species with a loud kruk call.

Dusky Moorhen is found in wetland habitats, with a preference for freshwater marshes. It will forage on rubbish tips, and is generally omnivorous, taking a wide variety of plant and animal food.

This species builds a bulky nest at the water's edge, and lays 5–18 whitish eggs. It is territorial when breeding, but otherwise gregarious.

Reference

• Rails by Taylor and van Perlo, ISBN 90–74345–20–4