Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata

Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata cachinnans. Photographs taken in the San José del Cabo estuary, Baja California Sur, April 2017. Photograph courtesy of Carol Snow, Del Mar, California.

Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata cachinnans. Photographs taken in the greater Mexico City area, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata cachinnans, Female. Photographs taken within the Florida Everglades, South Florida, October 2022. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Faith Hubsch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata cachinnans, Juvenile. Photographs taken in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 2024. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Faith Hubsch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Background and Identification

The Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata cachinnans, is one of seven subspecies of Common Gallinule, with only this subspecies being found in Mexico. They are a member of the Rallidae Family of Rails, Gallinules and Coots, which has one hundred fifty-nine members placed in thirty-eight genera, and one of seven species of the Gallinula Genus. They are also known known for their striking appearance and for their variety of loud and unusual calls. They are also known as the Black Gallinule, the Common Moorhen and the Florida Gallinula and in Mexico as gallineta americana. Gallinules mate in pairs and aggressively defend their territories but become gregarious in winter. They have life spans of up to eleven years.

The Common Gallinule is of medium size being similar in stature to a small duck. The sexes are similar in appearance, with the males being slightly larger than the females. They are all black in color with slight paling to dark gray on the upper back, sides, and flanks. Their rump, scapulars, and wings are brownish. They have a prominent white stripe along the top sides and flanks. Their bill and large frontal shield are bright red with the bill being tipped in yellow. Their Iris are cinnamon-brown or maroon and their legs are bright yellow with a red patch on the uppermost portion and they have long toes. They have a short tail and short wings.

Habitat and Geographical Range

The Common Gallinule is found in flooded, non-tidal deep marshes and slightly brackish or freshwater tidal marshes that have an abundance of vegetation. They consume seeds, crustaceans, snails, aquatic and terrestrial grasses and a wide variety of insects. They breed almost exclusively in freshwater marshes. They are an awkward clumsy flier, requiring long running takeoffs across the water’s surface to become airborne. They are an accomplished swimmer and diver. They are known for their loud cracking, grunting and croaking calls. They reproduce exclusively in freshwater environments making floating nests anchored to aquatic plants.

In Mexico the Common Gallinule is a non-migratory year-round resident in the interior of the country with the majority of the individuals along the coastal regions being winter visitors. They are absent from central Baja California, and the Pacific Slope from Sonora to Nayarit and Michoacán to Chiapas, and throughout most of the Yucatán Peninsula. They are short to medium distance fall and spring migrants with United States based birds moving south for wintering.

Common Misidentifications

The Common Gallinule is similar to and can be confused with the American Coot, Fulica americana. This species however, lacks white stripe on the flanks. The Common Gallinule may also be confused with the Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinica. This species has a blue head and deep blue underparts and has a blueish base on the frontal shield.

Conservation Status

From a conservation perspective the Common Gallinule is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are hunted in many areas in which they reside and are a component of human diets in certain parts of the world. They are very tolerant of humans, and they are considered to be a nuisance waterfowl in many areas and subject to eradication programs. Their long-term survival is threatened by loss of their wetland habitats.