Lesser Moorhen (Gallinula angulata)

Family
Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules, Coots)

Size
28 cm

First Described (Guide)
Sundevall, 1851

Habitat
Permanent and temporary freshwater wetlands such as papyrus swamps, reedbeds, marshes with rushes and open water, ponds with floating vegetation, flood-plains and pans with emergent grass, sedges and floating plants, rank vegetation on the edges of ponds, dams, rivers and forest streams, rice-fields, flooded farmland, sewage ponds, seasonally inundated grassland, gravel pits and coastal lagoons.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (P), Guinea-bissau (P), Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania (P), Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Brazil, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Egypt, Oman.

Unknown to S�o Tom� e Principe.

Senegal and Gambia east to Ethiopia, and south to northern and eastern Namibia, Botswana and eastern South Africa.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 25,000 - 1,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
Wetland habitat loss through draining, damming and grazing is the main threat.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Omnivorous. Molluscs, insects (especially beetles) and vegetable matter such as the seeds and flowers of reeds.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (4)...)

Lesser Moorhen (Paragallinula angulata) [XC791485]
by id from Kamfinsa Area, Copperbelt Province, Zambia (call)

Lesser Moorhen (Paragallinula angulata) [XC791483]
by Dries Van de Loock from Kamfinsa Area, Copperbelt Province, Zambia (call)

Nest
A pad of grass or sedge with a shallow cup that is usually placed on the surface of water or up to 5 cm above it (water typically 20-100 cm deep). Alternatively in emergent grass or sedges up to 1.5 m tall.

Subspecies
No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Lesser Moorhen (Gallinula angulata) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Lesser Moorhen see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Lesser Moorhen

If you would like to read any articles about the Lesser Moorhen...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Lesser Moorhen

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Lesser Moorhen or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (10)

No Videos of Lesser Moorhen

If Birdpedia has no videos of Lesser Moorhen or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)