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Gallinula galeata

(Lichtenstein, 1818)

Common Gallinule

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
PSESA Status
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.872346
Element CodeABNME13030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderGruiformes
FamilyRallidae
GenusGallinula
USESAPS
Synonyms
Gallinula chloropus(Linnaeus, 1758)
Other Common Names
common gallinule (EN) Galinha-d´Água, Frango-d´Água (PT) Gallineta Frente Roja, Ñahana (ES) Gallinule poule-d'eau (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2011. Fifty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 128(3):600-613.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly treated as conspecific with G. chloropus (Linnaeus 1758) [Common Moorhen] of Eurasia (AOU 1983, 1998), but separated on the basis of differences in vocalizations and bill and shield morphology (Constantine and The Sound Approach 2006) and mitochondrial DNA (Groenenberg et al. 2008) (AOU 2011). Formerly known as Florida Gallinule.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-07
Change Date1996-11-25
Range Extent Comments
BREEDS: central California, northern New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario, New England, and Nova Scotia south through most of South America (to northern Chile and northern Argentina), West Indies; also Hawaii and Marianas Archipelago. NORTHERN WINTER: in eastern North America primarily from South Carolina and Gulf Coast south, throughout breeding range elsewhere in Americas, occasionally northward.
Threat Impact Comments
Local declines are occurring due to degradation and loss of wetlands.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

A henlike, dark bird; in adults, the head and neck are black, the back brownish-olive, and the underparts slate, with a white streak on the flanks; the bill is red with a yellow tip, and there is a red forehead shield (bill and shield brownish in winter; bill dusky in juveniles); feet are large and yellow in adults, dusky in juveniles, which are paler and browner than adults (NGS 1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from American coot and purple gallinule in having a white streak on the sides just below the wing.

Habitat

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.

Ecology

Often in family groups.

Reproduction

Clutch size is 4-17 (commonly 7-12) in north, 3-6 in south. Incubation, by both sexes, lasts 18-21 days. Young are tended by both parents, independent in 5 weeks, can fly in 6-7 weeks. (Terres 1980, Harrison 1978). Immatures may help parents tend younger siblings (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN4B
ProvinceRankNative
Nova ScotiaS1BYes
OntarioS3BYes
New BrunswickS1BYes
QuebecS4BYes
United StatesN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
North CarolinaS3B,S2NYes
MaineS2BYes
OhioS3Yes
MinnesotaS3BYes
OklahomaS2BYes
IllinoisS2Yes
HawaiiS2Yes
NevadaS3Yes
New MexicoS4B,S4NYes
KentuckyS1BYes
VirginiaS1B,S1NYes
District of ColumbiaS2NYes
ArkansasS2BYes
TexasS4BYes
Rhode IslandSHBYes
IowaS2B,S2NYes
New HampshireS2BYes
MassachusettsS1B,S2NYes
ArizonaS5Yes
MichiganS3Yes
PennsylvaniaS2B,S2MYes
New YorkS3Yes
DelawareS3BYes
VermontS1BYes
TennesseeS1BYes
South CarolinaS5Yes
New JerseyS5B,S5NYes
KansasS1BYes
FloridaS4Yes
MarylandS2BYes
IndianaS3BYes
MississippiS5B,S5NYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
LouisianaS5Yes
AlabamaS3N,S4BYes
West VirginiaS1BYes
MissouriS2Yes
WisconsinS3BYes
GeorgiaS5Yes
UtahS1Yes
ConnecticutS2BYes
South DakotaSNAYes
Roadless Areas (5)
Arizona (2)
AreaForestAcres
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Florida (1)
AreaForestAcres
Alexander Springs CreekOcala National Forest2,954
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Beartooth Proposed WildernessShoshone National Forest16,837
References (30)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2011. Fifty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 128(3):600-613.
  4. Bent, A. C. 1926. Life histories of North American marsh birds. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 135.
  5. Berger, A. J. 1981. Hawaiian Birdlife. Second Edition. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. xv + 260 pp.
  6. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  7. Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  8. Byrd, G. V., and C. F. Zeillemaker. 1981. Ecology of nesting Hawaiian common gallinules at Hanalei, Hawaii. W. Birds 12:105-116.
  9. Castro, I. and A. Phillips. 1996. A guide to the birds of the Galapagos Islands. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
  10. 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.
  11. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  12. Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
  13. 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.
  14. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  15. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  16. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  17. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  18. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  19. 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.
  20. Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
  21. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
  22. Rappole, J.H., Morton, E.S., Lovejoy, T.E. and Ruos, J.L. 1983. Nearctic avian migrants in the Neotropics. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C.
  23. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  24. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  25. 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.
  26. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  27. Stinson, D. W., M. W. Ritter, and J. D. Reichel. 1991. The Mariana common moorhen: decline of an island endemic. Condor 93:38-43.
  28. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  29. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2015. Technical Corrections for 54 Wildlife and Plant Species on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Federal Register 80(120): 35860-35869.
  30. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.