Not your usual hen

Since @melinda010100 had the cool ideia to tag me in a post to try and find out which bird species was posted, I took advantage of the idea and here goes a #featheredfriday post about... hens! ;)

^{White breasted moorhen - Amaurornis phoenicurus}

But no, not the typical egg-laying hen... these are moorhens, sometimes called water hens as well.

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Moorhens belong to the Rallidae family; they normally live in wetlands, and have long legs and long fingers, adapted to move easily in that kind of environment, either through floating vegetation or in submersed land.

I don't have decent photos of the common moorhen that inhabits Portugal, but in a recent trip to Sri Lanka, white breasted moorhens were a very common visit in one of the places I've stayed, near a laggon that was a birdwatcher's dream.

These moorhens are fairly common throughout southern Asia, and are very easy to identify: as the name implies, white breast, together with white face and neck, and greish upperparts makes for an easy identification. Juveniles lack the white on the front, that develops with age.

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But the visiting adult moorhens didn't came alone... they brought the family!

The young juveniles were there every morning, following the parents in search of food throughout the garden.

It's great to be able to have breakfast AND birwatch at the same time! :) And that's it for this #featheredfriday; happy birding everyone!

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