Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Sylvia Qu, Amy O´Hatnick and Alberto Esquivel and is used with their permission.
COMMON GALLINULE Gallinula galeata
The Paraguayans call him "Water Chicken" and its easy to see why as he swims along with exaggerated, jerky head movements. In fact everything about the Moorhen jerks, even on land he is unable to control the urge to flick his tail. Moorhens are superficially similar to coots, which share the coloured bill and frontal shield, though they can always be distinguished by the long white stripe along the flanks. The American "moorhen" has recently been shown to be specifically distinct from the Old World Gallunula chloropus.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2560PH) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith February 2006).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE2561PH) Adult swimming, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Amy O´Hatnick June 2008).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE2562PH) Pair, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu June 2008).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE3828PH) Subdult head lateral, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith December 2012).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE3829PH) Same individual as (FPAVE3828PH) head frontal (Paul Smith December 2012).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE2563PH) Nest with eggs, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel undated).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE4145PH) Nest with chicks, Loma Plata, Departamento Boquerón (Paul Smith February 2015).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE4146PH) Chick, Loma Plata, Departamento Boquerón (Paul Smith February 2015).
VIDEO - (FPAVE2564VI) Adult, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Paul Smith December 2009).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7

FIGURE 7
FIGURE 8

FIGURE 8