Teichhühner (Teichralle) Vienna

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) belongs to the rail family and, at 32 to 35 centimetres in body length, is noticeably smaller and slimmer than its close relative, the Eurasian coot. Distinctive features are the largely blackish-brown to slate-grey plumage, the striking red frontal shield and the red bill with a yellow tip, together with the narrow white flank stripes and the white undertail coverts that become very visible when the bird jerks its tail. The long greenish toes are not lobed, unlike those of the coot, which lets the moorhen walk easily across floating vegetation.

Its optimal habitat consists of eutrophic, shallow and well-vegetated standing waters with dense reed cover along the bank. Even small ponds of a few square metres, ditches, oxbows, marsh pools and increasingly also park and garden ponds are settled, provided that cover and food are sufficient. The moorhen is markedly more secretive than the coot, mostly stays within the bankside vegetation and only ventures onto open water late and cautiously. During the breeding season the pair defends its territory vigorously against conspecifics and other waterbirds.

For practical hunting the species is mainly a topic of identification and observation. The moorhen is listed under the German Federal Hunting Act but carries a year-round closed season, which means it is in practice not hunted. German breeding numbers have been declining and the species has been on the early-warning list of the Red List since 2006. For hunters this calls for a confident identification at the water, a clear distinction from the coot and consistent protection of the species in the hunting ground.