Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

 

Synonyms: Gallinula chloropus (in part), Gallinula chloropus galeata, Common Moorhen (in part), Florida Gallinule, Black Gallinule

 

 

Gallinula galeata was split recently from the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), mostly on differences in vocalizations and bill morphology. G. galeata is confined to the Americas (from southeastern Canada and California to central Argentina; also in Bermuda, Caribbean, the Galapagos, and Hawaii (Map). Northern populations are migratory, leaving in September-November, and returning to the breeding grounds in March-May. Seven subspecies. Common Gallinule inhabits freshwater wetlands (swamps, marshes, oxbow lakes, and seasonally flooded grasslands), slow-flowing rivers, ponds, and canals with abundant emergent, submerged, and floating vegetation; also in rice fields; up to 4,000 m. Adults are blackish-gray with a white side stripe, a white undertail, a red frontal shield, and greenish or yellowish legs. Length 32-36 cm; weight 310-450 g. Immature are pale-gray, with yellow bill and legs. Nests built from leaves and stems of aquatic plants, or twigs; mainly in emergent vegetation or crotches of flooded shrubs; occasionally on stumps, or low in trees. Clutch 4-9 eggs; incubation 19-22 days; the young are precocial. This species feeds on vegetative parts, fruit, and seeds of a variety of aquatic plants, and on various invertebrates. Somewhat gregarious in winter. Common; the global population is over 2,000,000 individuals.

 

		25366 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37227 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25327 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D36489 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) with brood Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25424 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37225 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved Note a Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris) in the foreground on the left
		25405 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37228 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25410 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D36487 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) with brood Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25325 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D40833 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata), immature Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D40834 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata), immature Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D40831 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata), immature Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37323 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37329 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D37330 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D35665 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata galeata) with brood Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25403 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans), young Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		25194 Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans), nest Bentsen State Park, Texas, USA Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
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