Dusky Moorhen
Gallinula tenebrosa
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderGruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)
- FamilyRallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)
- GenusGallinula (Typical Moorhens)
- SpeciesGallinula tenebrosa (Dusky Moorhen)
About the Dusky Moorhen
The dusky moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) is a bird species in the rail family and is one of the eight extant species in the moorhen genus. It occurs in Australia, New Guinea, Borneo and Indonesia. It is often confused with the purple swamphen and the Eurasian coot due to similar appearance and overlapping distributions. They often live alongside birds in the same genus, such as the Tasmanian nativehen and the common moorhen.
John Gould described the dusky moorhen in 1846 from a skin collected along the Murray River in South Australia. Its species name is derived from the Latin tenebrosa "dark". Charles Lucien Bonaparte described Gallinula haematopus in 1856, but this is now a nomen nudum. Gregory Mathews described two subspecies that have been synonymized—magnirostris from Western Australia and subfrontata from New South Wales.
Three subspecies are recognised: subspecies frontata from southeastern Borneo, the Sunda Islands, Timor and western New Guinea, subspecies neumannii from northern New Guinea, and the nominate subspecies from Australia. Common names include dusky moorhen, black gallinule, black moorhen and waterhen.
The dusky moorhen is a medium... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Dusky Moorhen in Blue Mountains National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Blue Mountains National Park
Black-tailed Nativehen
Gallinula ventralis
Eurasian Coot
Fulica atra
South-west Pacific Swamphen
Porphyrio melanotus
Buff-banded Rail
Gallirallus philippensis
Sooty Rail
Porzana tabuensis
Lewin's Rail
Lewinia pectoralis
Baillon's Crake
Porzana pusilla
Australian Crake
Porzana fluminea
Brolga
Grus rubicunda
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Dusky Moorhen in Blue Mountains National Park?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Moorhen sighting in Blue Mountains National Park, based on 1,023 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Dusky Moorhen in Blue Mountains National Park?
November has the highest sighting rate for Dusky Moorhen in Blue Mountains National Park in our monthly data.