Common moorhen

Common moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

ITIS Species Code: 176284 NatureServ Element Code: ABNME13010

Taxa:

Order:

Family:

Aves

Gruiformes

Rallidae

NatureServe Global Rank:

NatureServe State (NC) Rank:

S3B,S3N

Federal Status:

NC State Status:

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PARTNERS IN FLIGHT PRIORITY SCORES:

Southern Blue Ridge:

Southern Piedmont:

n/a

South Atl. Coastal Plain:

n/a

HEXAGONAL KNOWN RANGE:

PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:

SUMMARY OF STATEWIDE PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:

Land Unit

US Fish & Wildlife Service

US Forest Service

US National Park Service

US Department of Defense

NC State Parks

NC University System

NC Wildlife Res. Com.

NC Forest Service

NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt.

Local Governments

Non-Governmental Org.

Other Public Lands

Private Lands

GAP Status 1-2

All Protected Lands

Statewide

Hectares

20,100.96

288.00

8,969.13

6,263.91

1,283.40

147.24

4,553.91

6.48

1,423.80

9.09

1,995.03

61.83

68,996.97

32,303.88

44,557.20

114,099.75

Acres

49,670.54

711.66

22,163.20

15,478.46

3,171.35

363.84

11,252.95

16.01

3,518.29

22.46

4,929.83

152.79

170,495.19

79,824.61

110,103.22

281,946.57

% of Dist. on

Prot. Lands

45.1 %

0.6 %

18.9 %

14.1 %

2.9 %

0.3 %

10.2 %

< 0.1 %

3.2 %

4.5 %

0.1 %

< 0.1 %

72.5 %

-----

% of Dist. on

All Lands

17.6 %

0.3 %

7.9 %

5.5 %

1.1 %

0.1 %

4.0 %

< 0.1 %

1.2 %

< 0.1 %

1.7 %

< 0.1 %

60.5 %

28.3 %

-----

HABITAT DESCRIPTION:

Fairly common along the coast and barrier islands (Fussell 1994, Potter et al. 1980).
Breeds in areas where proportion of open, fresh or brackish, water and emergent vegetation are about equal (Taylor 1998), such as freshwater ponds, backwaters (Potter et al. 1980), brackish impoundments, lakes (Fussell 1994), canals, and reservoirs (Harrison 1975). Requires more vegetation than does American Coot (Kaufman 1996).
Nest is anchored to vegetation over water, or occasionally in a shrub in or near the water (Harrison 1975).
NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS:

Freshwater marshes, canals, quiet rivers, lakes, ponds, mangroves, primarily in areas of emergent vegetation and grassy borders; taro patches in Hawaiian Islands. Infrequently flies. Nests usually among marsh plants over water, occasionally in shrub in or near water. Builds nestlike platforms on which to brood young.

MODELING DESCRIPTION:

Occupied Landcover Map Units:

Code	Name	Description	NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent
3	Tidal Marsh	Fresh and brackish tidal marshes, including cord grass, wild rice, sawgrass and needlerush alliances.	Brackish Marsh, Interdune pond, Maritime wet grassland
124	Maritime Scrubs and Tidal Shrublands	Coastal shrubs including wax-myrtle, swamp rose, alder, yaupon, and greenbriar.	Maritime Shrubs, Salt Shrub
372	Interdune Herbaceous Wetlands	Dune swales with permanently flooded to intermittently exposed hydrology. Species composition depends on salinity and can include cut grass, spike-rush, mosquito fern, and hornwort.	Interdune Pond, Maritime Wet Grasslands
380	Coastal Plain Fresh Water Emergent	Emergent vegetation in fresh water seepage bogs, ponds and riverbeds of the coastal plain. Includes alliances dominated by sedges, eelgrass, as well as cane found in unforested cane-brakes.	Small Depression Pond, Sandhill Seep, Floodplain Pool, Unforested Floodplain Canebrake, Riverscour Prairies, Vernal Pools
173	Coastal Plain Riverbank Shrubs	Shrub dominated riverbanks, commonly dominated by willows and/or alders.	Sand and Mud Bar
239	Piedmont/Mountain Emergent Vegetation	Emergent vegetation of all wetland hydrologies. Sites would commonly support species such as tussock sedge, rushs, and cattail alliances.	Rocky Bar and Shore (in part)
267	Riverbank Shrublands	Riverside shrubs with temporarily flooded hydrologies. Found in the both the Mountains and Piedmont. Containing dominants such as smooth alder and a Carolina or black willows.	Sand and Mud Bar
269	Floodplain Wet Shrublands	Saturated shrublands of the Piedmont, includes buttonbush, swamp-loosestrife, decodon and alders.	Piedmont/mountain Semipermanent Impoundment

View Entire Landcover Legend

Additional Spatial Constraints:

Exclude all area outside of known range.

Exclude all land greater than 200 meters from an open water feature.

Exclude all land greater than 200 meters from wet vegetation.

Exclude salt water habitats.

Exclude areas of intensive human activity including moderately to highly developed landscapes.

CITATIONS:

Byrd, G. V., and C. F. Zeillemaker. 1981. Ecology of nesting Hawaiian common gallinules at Hanalei, Hawaii. W. Birds 12:105-116.

Eddleman, W. R., F. L. Knopf, B. Meanley, F. A. Reid, and R. Zembal. 1988. Conservation of North American rallids. Wilson Bulletin 100:458-475.

Bent, A. C. 1926. Life histories of North American marsh birds. U.S. National Museum Bulletin No. 135. [reprint. 1963. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, New York].

Herkert, J. R., editor. 1992. Endangered and threatened species of Illinois:status and distribution. Vol. 2:Animals. Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board. iv + 142 pp.

Fussell, J.O. III. 1994. A birder’s guide to coastal North Carolina. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press.

Kaufman K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Harrison, H.H. 1975. A field guide to bird's nests in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 257 p.

Harrison, C. 1978. A field guide to the nests, eggs and nestlings of North American birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.

Harrison, H.H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.

Potter, E. F., J. F. Parnell, and R. P. Teulings. 1980. Birds of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 408 pp.

Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Berger, A.J. 1981. Hawaiian Birdlife. Second Edition. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. xv + 260 pp.

Scott, J. M., and C. B. Kepler. 1985. Distribution and abundance of Hawaiian native birds:a status report. Pages 43-70 in Temple, S. A. (editor). Bird Conservation 2. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin. 181 pp.

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), Committee on Classification and Nomenclature. 1983. Check-list of North American Birds. Sixth Edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas.

National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.

Raffaele, H.A. 1983. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.

Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. A field guide to the birds of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.

Stiles, F.G., and A.F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publ. Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 511 pp.

Stinson, D. W., M. W. Ritter, and J. D. Reichel. 1991. The Mariana common moorhen:decline of an island endemic. Condor 93:38-43.

10 March 2005

This data was compiled and/or developed by the North Carolina GAP Analysis Project.

For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap