View source for Moorhen

{{short description|Genus of birds}}
{{distinguish|Moorfowl|Moorcock (disambiguation){{!}}Moorcock}}
{{redirect|Gallinule|the blue gallinules|Porphyrio}}
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{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Moorhens
| fossil_range = [[Late Oligocene]] to recent
| image = Dusky Moorhen, Gallinula tenebrosa in Victoria, Australia.jpg
| image_caption = [[Dusky moorhen]], ''Gallinula tenebrosa''
| taxon = Gallinula
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| type_species = ''[[Common moorhen|Fulica chloropus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
see text
| synonyms          =
''Edithornis''<br>
''Pareudiastes''
}}

'''Moorhens'''—sometimes called '''marsh hens'''—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the [[rail (bird)|rail]] [[family (biology)|family]] (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the [[genus]] '''''Gallinula''''', [[Latin]] for "little hen."<ref>''{{lang|la|Gallinula}}'' is the diminutive of ''{{lang|la|[[:wikt:gallina#Latin|gallīna]]}}'' ("hen"). It is anglicized ''gallinule'' in older zoological texts. {{OED|gallinule}}</ref> 
They are [[genetic genealogy|close relative]]s of [[coot]]s. They are often referred to as (black) ''' gallinules'''. Recently, one of the species of ''Gallinula'' was found to have enough [[genetic distance|difference]]s to form a new genus ''[[Paragallinula]]'' with the only species being the [[lesser moorhen]] (''Paragallinula angulata'').

Two [[species]] from the [[Australia]]n region, sometimes separated in {{strong|''[[Tribonyx]]''}}, are called "native hens" (also native-hen or nativehen).<ref>{{cite web |title=Taxonomy update for 2017 - eBird |url=https://ebird.org/news/taxonomy-update-for-2017/ |publisher=[[eBird]] |access-date=22 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1=Frank |editor-last2=Donsker |editor-first2=David |title=Taxonomy Version 2 |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/updates/archives/taxonomy-version-2/ |website=IOC World Bird List (v14.1) |publisher=IOC World Bird List |access-date=22 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Pepperday|first1=Martin|title=Profile - Tasmanian Native Hen|url=http://www.zoo.utas.edu.au/tfprofiles/tasanimals/nativehen2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002000954/http://www.zoo.utas.edu.au/tfprofiles/tasanimals/nativehen2.htm|archive-date=2 October 2006|access-date=22 November 2018|website=UTAS Zoology Home|publisher=[[University of Tasmania]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Goldizen|first1=Dr.|title=Tasmanian native hens share mates to get the best ground|url=https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/1998/09/tasmanian-native-hens-share-mates-get-best-ground|access-date=22 November 2018|website=The University of Queensland, Australia|publisher=[[The University of Queensland]]}}</ref> The native hens differ visually by shorter, thicker and stubbier toes and bills, and longer tails that lack the white signal pattern of typical moorhens.<ref name = boles2005>Boles (2005)</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Parks & Wildlife Service - Native Hen, Tribonyx Mortierii|url=http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=5126|access-date=22 November 2018|website=Parks & Wildlife Service|publisher=[[Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service]]}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Gallinula chloropus Moorhens fighting.JPG|thumb|left|[[Common moorhen]]s fighting]]
These rails are mostly brown and black with some white markings in [[Feather|plumage]] color. Unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see because they feed in open water margins rather than hidden in reedbeds.

They have short rounded wings and are weak fliers, although usually capable of covering long distances. The [[common moorhen]] in particular [[bird migration|migrates]] up to {{convert|2,000|km|abbr=on}} from some of its breeding areas in the colder parts of [[Siberia]]. Those that migrate do so at night. The [[Gough moorhen]] on the other hand is considered almost flightless; it can only flutter some metres. As is common in [[rail (bird)|rail]]s, there has been a marked tendency to [[evolution|evolve]] [[flightless bird|flightlessness]] in island populations.

Moorhens can walk very well on their strong legs, and have long toes that are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces.

These birds are [[omnivorous]], consuming plant material, small rodents, amphibians and [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s. They are aggressively territorial during the breeding season, but are otherwise often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow vegetated lakes they prefer.

==Systematics and evolution==
[[File:Gallinula mortierii 1.jpg|thumb|right|Flightless [[Tasmanian native hen]], ''Tribonyx mortierii'']]
The [[genus]] ''Gallinula'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760 with the [[common moorhen]] (''Gallinula chloropus'') as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010448 Vol. 1, p. 50], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36210808 Vol. 6, p. 2] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=202 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483015 }}</ref>

The genus ''Gallinula'' contains five extant, one recently [[extinct]], and one [[possibly extinct]] [[species]]:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Rails, gallinules, trumpeters, cranes | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rails/
 | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 April 2019 }}</ref>

*[[Samoan moorhen]], ''Gallinula pacifica''  &ndash; sometimes placed in ''Pareudiastes'', possibly extinct (1907?)
*[[Makira moorhen]], ''Gallinula silvestris'' &ndash; sometimes placed in ''Pareudiastes'' or ''Edithornis'', extremely rare with no direct observations in recent decades, but still considered likely extant due to reports of the species persisting in very small numbers.
*†[[Tristan moorhen]], ''Gallinula nesiotis'' &ndash; formerly sometimes placed in ''{{vanchor|Porphyriornis}}'';<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Barry|title=Rails: A Guide to Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_bUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA490|year=2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4081-3538-9|page=490}}</ref> extinct (late 19th century)
*[[Gough moorhen]], ''Gallinula comeri'' &ndash; formerly sometimes placed in ''Porphyriornis''
*[[Common moorhen]], ''Gallinula chloropus''
*[[Common gallinule]], ''Gallinula (chloropus) galeata'', recently split by the [[American Ornithologists' Union|AOU]], other committees still evaluating
*[[Dusky moorhen]], ''Gallinula tenebrosa''

Former members of the genus:
*[[Lesser moorhen]], ''Paragallinula angulata''
*[[Spot-flanked gallinule]], ''Porphyriops melanops''
*[[Black-tailed nativehen|Black-tailed native hen]], ''Tribonyx ventralis''
*[[Tasmanian native hen]], ''Tribonyx mortierii''

Other moorhens have been described from older remains. Apart from the 1–3 extinctions in more recent times, another 1–4 species have gone [[extinct]] as a consequence of early human settlement: [[Hodgen's waterhen]] (''Gallinula hodgenorum'') of [[New Zealand]]&mdash;which belongs in [[subgenus]] ''Tribonyx''&mdash;and a species close to the [[Samoan moorhen]] from [[Buka, Papua New Guinea|Buka]], [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]], which is almost certainly distinct from the [[Makira moorhen]], as the latter cannot fly. The undescribed [[Viti Levu gallinule]] of [[Fiji]] would either be separated in ''Pareudiastes'' if that genus is considered valid, or may be a completely new genus. Similarly, the undescribed "swamphen" of [[Mangaia]], currently tentatively assigned to ''[[Porphyrio]]'', may belong to ''Gallinula''/''Pareudiastes''.

===Evolution===
[[File:Badge of HMS Moorhen.JPG|thumb|upright|Badge of [[HMS Moorhen|HMS ''Moorhen'']]]]
Still older [[fossil]]s document the genus since the [[Late Oligocene]] onwards. The genus seems to have originated in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], in the general region of [[Australia]]. By the [[Pliocene]], it was probably distributed worldwide:
* ''Gallinula'' sp. (Early Pliocene of Hungary and Germany)
* ''Gallinula kansarum'' (Late Pliocene of Kansas, USA)
* ''Gallinula balcanica'' (Late Pliocene<ref>Middle [[Villafranchian]]</ref> of Varshets, Bulgaria).<ref>Boev, Z. 1999. ''Gallinula balcanica'' sp. n. (Rallidae: Gruiformes) - a middle villafranchian moorhen from Western Bulgaria. - Acta zoologica bulgarica, 51 (1): 43-48.</ref><!-- Ardeola51:91 -->
* ''Gallinula gigantea'' (Early Pleistocene of Czech Republic and Israel)

The ancient ''"Gallinula" disneyi'' (Late Oligocene&mdash;Early Miocene of Riversleigh, Australia) has been separated as genus ''[[Australlus]]''.

Even among non-[[Passeriformes]], this genus has a long documented existence. Consequently, some unassigned fragmentary rail fossils might also be from moorhens or native hens. For example, specimen [[Queensland Museum|QM]] F30696, a left [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|distal]] [[tibiotarsus]] piece from the Oligo-Miocene boundary at [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh]], is similar to but differs in details from ''"G." disneyi''.<ref name = boles2005 /> It cannot be said if this bird&mdash;if a distinct species&mdash;was flightless. From size alone, it might have been an ancestor of ''G. mortierii'' (see also below).

In addition to [[paleosubspecies]] of ''Gallinula chloropus'', the doubtfully distinct [[Late Pliocene]] to  Pleistocene ''Gallinula mortierii reperta'' was described, referring to the population of the Tasmanian native hen that once inhabited mainland Australia and became extinct at the end of the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]].<ref>Olson (1975), Baird (1984), Boles (2005)</ref> It may be that apart from [[Climate change (general concept)|climate change]] it was driven to extinction by the introduction of the [[dingo]], which as opposed to the [[marsupial]] predators hunted during the day, but this would require a survival of mainland ''Gallinula mortierii'' to as late as about 1500 BC.<ref>Baird (1991), Boles (2005)</ref>

''"G." disneyi'' was yet another flightless native hen, indicative of that group's rather [[basal (evolution)|basal]] position among moorhens. Its time and place of occurrence suggest it as an ancestor of ''G. mortierii (reperta)'', from which it differed mostly in its much smaller size. However, some limb bone proportions are also strikingly different, and in any case such a scenario would require a flightless bird to change but little during some 20 million years in an environment rich in [[predator]]s. As the fossils of ''G. disneyi'' as well as the rich recent and [[subfossil]] material of ''G. mortierii'' shows no evidence of such a change at all, ''"G." disneyi'' more probably represents a case of [[parallel evolution]] at an earlier date,<ref name = boles2005 /> as signified by its placement in ''Australlus''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
<!-- {{Wikispecies|Gallinula}} needs to get subfossil record up to date at least. Otherwise good -->
* Baird, Robert F. (1984): The Pleistocene distribution of the Tasmanian native-hen ''Gallinula mortierii mortierii''. ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' '''84'''(2): 119–123. <!-- <small>{{doi|10.1071/MU9840119}}</small> DOI does not seem to work -->[http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU9840119.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Baird, Robert F. (1991): The Dingo as a Possible Factor in the Disappearance of ''Gallinula mortierii'' from the Australian Mainland. ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' '''91'''(2): 121–122. <!-- <small>{{doi|10.1071/MU9910121}}</small> DOI does not seem to work -->[http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU9910121.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Boles, Walter E. (2005): A New Flightless Gallinule (Aves: Rallidae: ''Gallinula'') from the Oligo-Miocene of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia. (2005) ''Records of the Australian Museum'' '''57'''(2): 179–190. [https://web.archive.org/web/20061113164159/http://www.amonline.net.au/pdf/publications/1441_complete.pdf PDF fulltext]
* [[Storrs Olson|Olson, Storrs L.]] (1975): The fossil rails of C.W. DeVis, being mainly an extinct form of ''Tribonyx mortierii'' from Queensland. ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' '''75'''(2): 49–54. <!-- <small>{{DOI|10.1071/MU9750049}}</small> DOI does not seem to work -->[http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/96/paper/MU9750049.htm HTML abstract]

==External links==
{{Commons category multi|Gallinula|Rallidae}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202060419/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/152_MoorhenGchloropus.pdf Identification guide (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2psmJ0QtJlI Educational video from Avi Birds]

{{Gruiformes|R.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q853653}}

[[Category:Gallinula|*]]
[[Category:Rails| ]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]