#marsh hen

[scottpartridge]

Clapper Rail or Marsh Hen, Rallus crepitans 

[pamwmsn]

beaufort.southcarolina

📷: @jerms1977

“All the time l’ve spent in these Lowcountry marshes, and I’d never seen a marsh hen nest-until last night. The nest was barely more than a thin bed of dead spartina, delicate enough to miss unless you were looking for it. It felt fragile... but these birds have been living in this marsh far longer than we have. They know exactly what they’re doing."

[andy-snaps]

Making Ripples

[fullfrontalbirds]

[ainawgsd]

Moorhen

Moorhens — sometimes called marsh hens — are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). They are close relatives of coots, and because of their apparently nervous behavior (frequently twitching tail, neck and grinding their backs) are sometimes called "skitty coots". These rails are mostly brown and black with some white markings in plumage color. Unlike many of the rails they are usually easy to see, feeding in open water margins rather than hidden in reedbeds.

They have short rounded wings and are weak fliers, although usually capable of covering long distances. The common moorhen in particular migrates up to 2,000 km from some of its breeding areas in the colder parts of Siberia. Those that migrate do so at night. The Gough moorhen on the other hand is considered almost flightless; it can only flutter some metres. As common in rails, there has been a marked tendency to evolve flightlessness in island populations. Moorhens can walk very well on their strong legs, and have long toes that are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces.

These birds are omnivorous, consuming plant material, small rodents, amphibians and eggs. They are aggressively territorial during the breeding season, but are otherwise often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow vegetated lakes they prefer.

[jomobimo]

Moorhen (Marsh Hen): A History of British Birds, 1862