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PLATE 34: GALLINULES, MOORHENS AND COOTS
Allen’s Gallinule Porphyrio alleni V
L: 23. W: 50. Smaller, more elegant than Common Moorhen, with bluish head and underparts, and
iridescent greenish wings. Lacks white flank-line, but has white undertail-coverts. Note red legs
and greenish upperparts. Juvenile/first-winter has warm brown upperparts, distinctly pale-fringed
tertials and greenish wash to flight feathers; underparts buffish with white belly and undertail-
coverts; frontal shield brownish; legs brownish turning red. Jerks tail when moving, and walks
easily over floating plants; swims well. Long legs dangle in short flight. Secretive. Habitat Marshes,
nearby rank grass or thick bushes. Note Vagrant Oman.Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus RB, WV
L: 33. W: 52. Dark, hen-like waterbird, with prominent red bill and shield, and white flank-line.
Constantly jerks tail to show white undertail-coverts. Swims with vigorous nodding movements
and body tilted forward. Juvenile paler, grey-brown with dark bill; distinguished from young
Eurasian Coot by white flank-line and undertail pattern. Seeks cover readily and patters over water
when disturbed; often walks openly in wet grassland, marshes. Voice Sings at night with persistent
clucking kreck-kreck-kreck. Many calls can be confused with those of Eurasian Coot; sometimes
a short variable kek or kr-r-e ck; also characteristic sudden, loud, gurgling, grrll and a 2- or 3-note
kwett, kwette-wett. Habitat Freshwater wetlands and edges of pools with cover. Note Passage and
winter hatched.Lesser Moorhen Gallinula angulata V
L: 28. Smaller than Common Moorhen and told from it in adult plumage by yellow bill and absence of
red at top of legs. Juvenile very similar to juvenile Common Moorhen but differs in having dull yellow
bill (dark in Common Moorhen) and paler head and underparts, the latter contrasting with the
brown upperparts (more uniform plumage in juvenile Common Moorhen). Habits similar to Common
Moorhen. Habitat As Common Moorhen but also areas of temporary water. Note Vagrant Oman.Red-knobbed Coot Fulica cristata rb
L: 39–44. Adult very similar to Eurasian Coot, but differs in less rounded head shape, variably
dusky grey-blue bill but white frontal shield and two prominent red knobs on forehead in breeding
season; these are shrunken and inconspicuous at other times. Immature and winter adult best
identified by shape of feathering at bill base, being rounded in Red-knobbed but a sharply pointed
wedge in Eurasian Coot. In flight wings lack white trailing edge seen in Eurasian Coot. Warning:
Hybridisation with Eurasian Coot can occur, the offspring showing characters of both species. Voice
Shrill nasal kerre, krrk or rolled krre-krre-krre, quite unlike calls of Eurasian Coot. Habitat Marshes,
lakes and lagoons with cover close by. Note Vagrant Oman, UAE. [Alt: Crested Coot]Eurasian Coot Fulica atra WV, pm, rb
L: 36–42. W: 75. Adult sooty-black with white bill and frontal shield; hunch-backed on water.
Upright stance out of water when note long greenish legs and lobed feet. Flight stronger and
heavier than other rails, more duck-like, on rounded wings and with long pattering run across water
before take-off, with narrow white trailing edge on inner wing. Long toes trail behind tail-tip.
Juvenile duller and paler with nearly white underparts and smaller frontal shield. Dives well, but
only for a short time. Markedly gregarious, especially in winter. Voice Commonest call is a short
staccato kewk, also an explosive high pitts. Habitat Lakes, reservoirs, ponds with grassy margins;
sometimes saltwater in winter. Note Passage and winter hatched.