juvenile moorhen or water rail (1 Viewer)

[marnixR]

i thought this was a juvenile moorhen, but someone claimed it might be a water rail - can anyone help ?

pictures taken this morning at Forest Farm, a small nature reserve on the outskirts of Cardiff

 

[lou salomon]

moorhen.

 

[Versluijs]

Yes, a Moorhen

Martijn

 

[marnixR]

thought so - some people just WANT their find to be special, even if it isn't

 

[stevethehydra]

You can see the Moorhen bill pattern developing in the second photo.

 

[IanGEC]

Moorhen.... I had the same dilemma a couple of weeks ago and noticed the white on wing edge area which is absent on the Water Rail

 

[Zheljko]

And bill is way too short for a Water Rail, see this picture https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8099/29335145582_57f84fa5b8_b.jpg

 

[stevethehydra]

Admittedly juv Water Rails can have shorter bills, though not that short! And of course WR is smaller and different structure and plumage and... but these things may be less obvious to someone who hasn't seen (m)any Water Rails in real life, so I was just pointing out something that once seen would conclusively identify a Moorhen

 

[marnixR]

Moorhen.... I had the same dilemma a couple of weeks ago and noticed the white on wing edge area which is absent on the Water Rail

I shall try and remember that one about the white on the wing edge, seems like quite a reliable feature that's visible in most instances