What do moorhens eat

Their bottoms under-tail coverts are boldly white and cut in half by a narrow black line. Coots have lobed feet whilst moorhens have little chicken feet. Moorhens have greenish legs and coots, grey-blue. Coots are the slightly bigger birds and are more likely to be found swimming on open water.

They like to dive underwater for their food. But it has a purpose. The closer the moorhen is to danger, or the more exposed it feels, the more rapidly it flicks.

The orange-red bill with a bright yellow tip is actually coded so other moorhens can tell how healthy an individual is - much as flamingos do. The red seems to be related to low levels of bacterial infection, and the yellow to blood parameters such as resistance to infection. The brighter the colours, the more attractive the bird is deemed. Unfortunately, no one has yet worked out what the orange garters at the top of their legs are for! Moorhen nests are constructed of dead vegetation and placed among floating plants or on the ground adjacent to water, easy for everyone to see.

This is a strategy that the moorhen uses to increase her own egg production. Because they are so close to the water, moorhen nests are often lost to flooding. The female common moorhen lays four to twelve eggs at a rate of one egg per day. The eggs hatch in days. The chicks are precocial and will leave the nest and feed themselves within a few days of birth. Once all the chicks leave the nest, the moorhens use the extra nests to sleep in at night.

Both parents care for the chicks. They chicks fledge in about five to seven weeks. The mating pair may raise more than one brood in a season, using the same nests. Generally, the female builds the nest among vegetation in the water while the male gathers the twigs, etc. Their eggs are smooth and glossy, greyish-white to green with reddish-brown or grey markings.

They are about 43 mm by 31 mm. Both parents incubate the eggs and look after the precocial nestlings, which when newly hatched are fed in the nest for a couple of days before swimming with their parents.

British birds are sedentary but many birds north-west Europe spend the winter in Britain. Moorhen Scientific name: Gallinula chloropus. A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the Moorhen is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. It can be distinguished from the similar Coot by its yellow legs, red beak and the white patches on its body. Species information Category Wading birds.

Statistics Length: cm Wingspan: 52cm Weight: g Average lifespan: 3 years. Conservation status Common.