A Moorhen VisitsA moorhen visits its preening perch. (Photo David A. Murray)

Florida's warm winter sun provided comfortable weather for this photo shoot. I carefully selected a location along the border of a large freshwater marsh. The marsh was teeming with wildlife photo opportunities, and the plan was to photograph its inhabitants.

Tree roots arched above the waterline and joined at the trunk. These root arches provide excellent perching locations, and hiding places, for a number of aquatic bird species. This unique habitat is a good location for wildlife watching or wildlife photography.

The arching tree roots reflected back into the water and created a visual maze. While sitting along the edge of the marsh, an intense study of the area was necessary to visually isolate subjects in the maze. The opportunity to see critters would be determined by movement. That is, who sees whom first! If the wildlife sees me first, then I'll probably never even know the critter was there - the key to success, was for me to see the wildlife first.

Off in the distance I heard a "croaking" call. Concentrating intensely on the location of the sound soon produced a distant silhouette of a duck-like bird slowly swimming in my direction. As the bird got closer, a noticeable bobbing of its head became evident - it was as if a string connected the bird's paddling feet and head, as the feet paddled the head bobbed. The vivid red bill and white stripe on its side identified the bird as a common moorhen, also referred to as a common gallinule.

The common moorhen belongs to a family of birds some of whom are similar to one another, while others are not so similar. The Family Rallidae consists of coots, gallinules, and rails. This is a sizable Family with about one hundred and thirty species worldwide, but only nine of those species breed here in North America.

The common moorhen is similar to the purple gallinule and American coot. These birds all seem to "fit" into the same family. However, there are also five different species of rails that are in this Family: the yellow, black, clapper, king, sora, and Virginia rails. Somehow the rails don't seem to "fit" into this family, the moorhen, gallinule, and coot, seem more duck-like, while the rails, except for their love of marshes, are similar to small game birds such as woodcock.

The primary similarity of the members in the Family Rallidae is their habitat preferences. All members of this family are primarily marsh-dwelling birds.

The common moorhen is only about thirteen inches from bill to tail. Although this bird isn't large, it is conspicuous because, as previously mentioned, it bobs its head while swimming.

Other prominent characteristics of the moorhen are its yellow-tipped red bill with red frontal shield, and feathers that create a white stripe on its sides. The red frontal shield is essentially part of the bill and extends upward between the bird's eyes.

The adult moorhen's overall feather coloring varies from brownish-gray to black, depending upon the time of the year and whether or not the bird is in breeding plumage. Another noticeable characteristic of the moorhen are its yellow legs and feet. The feet are reasonably large with long toes, enabling the moorhen to walk in shallow water with soft bottoms of leaves and vegetation. The bird's long toes facilitate stirring up food that floats to the surface such as, seeds, and vegetation from the marsh bottom. Other than the seeds and vegetation, a moorhen will also consume insects in the water, as well as snails.

The habitat of the common moorhen is restricted to freshwater marshes and ponds. The vegetation in and around these marshes and ponds are very important. Aquatic vegetation and plants, such as cattails, are important nest building materials. A moorhen nest is a platform usually three or four inches thick and constructed of marsh plants and dead cattails built a few inches above the waterline. This shallow platform nest becomes home to as many as a dozen or more eggs. The moorhen female will usually lay between seven and fourteen buff-colored and lightly brown spotted eggs.

While the female moorhen incubates her eggs, the male performs an unusual task. The male moorhen travels through the pair's territory and builds several other nests. These additional nests become a home-away-from-home for the young chicks after they hatch and begin to explore their territory. When the chicks get older, they may even spend a night away from home in one of their other nests.

As the moorhen in the marsh continued to swim closer to me, the beautiful breeding plumage and colorful beak became visible. The moorhen appeared to be looking for something as it circled some large roots. It quickly found the root it probably perches on to preen everyday. The preening perch location worked out perfectly for both of us.

Good shooting!

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David A. Murray's Wildlife & Outdoor Images™ at 29 Commercial St. in Boothbay Harbor, has closed for the season. Visit www.davidamurray.com to shop online, and for editorial, advertising, or corporate photo needs.

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