Moorhen

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Moorhen, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(II), WBD(II*), Bern(III)

Trends for this species show wide fluctuations that are related to its high potential for reproduction and to its susceptibility to cold winter weather. The BBS map of change in relative density between 1994-96 and 2007-09 indicates that numbers have increased in England and Wales but decreased in Northern Ireland and possibly Scotland. Wintering numbers in Britain, which include many continental breeders, fell between 2008 and 2013 (WeBS: Frost et al. 2020). Numbers across Europe have been broadly stable since 1980 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>).

UK breeding population	No population change in UK (1967–2022)
UK winter population	-14% decrease (1996/97–2021/22)

In winter and the breeding season, Moorhens are widely distributed throughout most of Britain and Ireland on a wide variety of lowland freshwater wetlands and agricultural areas with abundant drainage ditches. They are absent from many upland areas of Wales, northern England and northern and western Scotland.

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Occupied 10-km squares in UK

No. occupied in breeding season	2209
% occupied in breeding season	73
No. occupied in winter	2156
% occupied in winter	71

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Most frequent in	Ponds
Also common in	Along Rivers

There have been marked range losses in Ireland, but population declines in Britain have not yet resulted in significant range loss.

Moorhens are widely reported and present year-round.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	11 years 3 months 20 days (set in 1963)
Typical Lifespan	3 years with breeding typically at 1 year
Adult Survival	0.623±0.052

Wing Length	Adults	182.4±8.7 | Range 170–195mm, N=1192
	Juveniles	179.2±11.1 | Range 166-192mm, N=570
	Males	187.8±5.8 | Range 179–198mm, N=523
	Females	174.2±5.2 | Range 167–182mm, N=252

Body Weight	Adults	356±68.1 | Range 243–460g, N=591
	Juveniles	318±70.3 | Range 200–439g, N=309
	Males	374±64.8 | Range 243–465g, N=295
	Females	319±56 | Range 235–407g, N=114

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	F*
Field Codes	2-letter: MH | 5-letter code: MOORH | Euring: 4240

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

The main drivers of the recent decline are unclear.

Further information on causes of change

A decline in the number and quality of farmland ponds, and the spread of American mink Neovison vison, which is an important predator especially along watercourses, have been suggested as possible causes of regional and local decline. The failure rate of nests has increased, and there has been corresponding decline in the number of fledglings per breeding attempt.

Modelling suggests that climate change may have had a positive impact on the long-term trend for this species, resulting in less negative trends than would have occurred in the absence of climate change (Pearce-Higgins & Crick 2019).

Information about conservation actions

Whilst the Moorhen population has fluctuated, the recent downturn has been of sufficient magnitude to prompt lower level alerts. The reasons for the decline and hence potential conservation actions are unclear. Theoretically, the increases in the availability and quality of wetland habitats which have benefited many other breeding waterbird species, should also have benefited Moorhen. However, this species is more widely distributed than many other wetland species with birds frequenting dispersed, smaller patches of habitat such as farm ponds which may have decreased in number and quality in some areas (Heath & Whitehead 1992; Jeffries 2012; Davies et al. 2016). Policies which encourage the creation of suitable ponds or similar habitat should therefore be considered in order to potentially benefit this species, although further research is needed to inform other conservation actions.