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Photo: Alexis Lours · CC BY 4.0 ↗
Gallinula chloropus
Common Moorhen
A pond bird with a colourful bill and a habit of flicking its short tail.
A recording has not been added yet. Use the identification notes below for now.
I know this bird · Record a sighting Where to look & how to find it ↓FIELDCRAFT · FIND WITH CARE
Finding guide
Choose the season, find the habitat, then watch patiently. Search guidance is not a measure of rarity or conservation status.
- When to go
- All year
- Where to start
- Park ponds, canals and water edges with sheltering vegetation.
- What to do when you arrive
- Wait at vegetated pond edges for birds to emerge naturally. Check the red-and-yellow bill and white flank line, leaving a clear retreat into cover.
Habitat and behaviour reference: BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · The practical steps are editorial advice based on the references, not live sightings.
How to identify it
Adults have a red forehead shield and red bill with yellow tip, white flank line and white undertail sides. Juveniles are brown with dull bills. Adult Coot has a white bill and shield.
Habitat
Ponds, canals, slow water and small well-vegetated wetlands.
Behaviour
Feeds on plants and invertebrates at water edges and on lawns, and swims readily.
When to look
All year
Where to look
Park ponds, canals and water edges with sheltering vegetation.
Reference photos do not show every sex, age, season or geographic form; use the identification notes too.
Further reading:BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · BTO · Coot and Moorhen ↗ · RSPB ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
COMMUNITY SIGHTINGS
Recent encounters
2026-09-26