Birds
Water birds
Other Waterbirds (Crakes, Grebes, Gulls and Terns)
Sighting 4470662

Gallinula tenebrosa

Dusky Moorhen at Cooroy, QLD

Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
Gallinula tenebrosa at Cooroy, QLD - suppressed
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Identification history

Gallinula tenebrosa 17 Feb 2023 natureguy
Unverified 17 Feb 2023 gwnoosa

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User's notes

Tasmanian Nativehen (Turbo chook)

7 comments

Liam.m wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Couldn’t have been a Tassie native hen as they are restricted to Tasmania. Possibly a Pale-vented bush hen or similar species. Do you happen to have a photo?
gwnoosa wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Yes, that's what I thought too, and they can't fly, so a long way to walk. It was a google image search that suggested it was a Turbo chook, and it's been here for three days and we haven't seen it fly yet, only swim when the Swamphen chases it. I have uploaded a photo and will try to get some better shots. I understand the main difference between the species you suggested is the colour of their eyes. cheers
natureguy wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Immature
gwnoosa wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Can @natureguy kindly elaborate regarding the comment 'Immature'. Thank you.
Liam.m wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Thanks Luke, and thanks @gwnoosa for the photos. FYI he’s referring to the age of the moorhen (which is not an adult bird)
Liam.m wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Bush-hens are also much shyer than moorhens, inhabiting denser areas (I highly doubt one would live around this pond), and much more likely to be heard than seen. They also lack the white feathers that edge the wing and tail of moorhens.
natureguy wrote:
   17 Feb 2023
Thanks Liam for clearing things up

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • True Nesting site

Species information

  • Gallinula tenebrosa Scientific name
  • Dusky Moorhen Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 1080.5m Recorded at altitude
  • 265 images trained Machine learning

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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