Common Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

The Common Moorhen is a duck-like freshwater wetland and open water species that feeds mostly on plant matter, but also occasionally on aquatic invertebrates. It tends to be about 10.5 inches long, with a wingspan of about 21 inches. Both male and female species tend to be gray or brown in color with a white stripe along their flanks. They have red beaks tipped in yellow, although the females usually have duller colored beaks than do the males.

This bird appears to be declining in the Calumet region. Indian Ridge Marsh North was formerly the center of abundance for this species at Lake Calumet - as many as 14 broods were reported annually from Corridor A of the Park Proposal, which encompasses Lake Calumet and its adjacent wetlands. However, the clearing of a blocked drainage culvert and the repair of a broken water main early in 1995 drained the marsh of its unnaturally high water levels. Indian Ridge Marsh is now far too dry to provide significant nesting habitat for Common Moorhens, except perhaps in the very wettest of years. Only 1 brood was reported from Corridor A in 1996 (W.Marcisz). The Illinois State Water Survey has a plan in the works to divert oxygenated water from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's aeration system up through the Indian Ridge Marshes, Big Marsh and finally back out into Lake Calumet and the Calumet River.

The preservation and proper management of the Lake Calumet wetlands is necessary to continue to provide habitat for this rare species to breed in the Lake Calumet region.