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Where to see

Where to see the Common Moorhen in South Africa

Hosts have recorded the Common Moorhen at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Cederberg Wilderness Area and Goukamma Nature Reserve.

Gallinula chloropus

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Common Moorhen
Photo: (c) Alexis Lours, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alexis Lours

Planning a trip

When and where to find the Common Moorhen

Hosts have recorded the Common Moorhen at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Cederberg Wilderness Area and Goukamma Nature Reserve.

Best hours of the day

  • The first hours after sunrise, and late afternoon. Birds call and feed most in the cool.
  • Midday. Quieter, especially in summer heat.

Where to base yourself

  • Western Cape

    Western Cape

    Cederberg Wilderness Area · Goukamma · Anysberg

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Western Cape
    Western Cape
  • Limpopo

    Limpopo

    Kruger

    Self-drive
    Stays in Limpopo
    Limpopo
  • Eastern Cape

    Eastern Cape

    Kwandwe

    Guided drivesMalaria-free
    Stays in Eastern Cape
    Eastern Cape
  • KwaZulu-Natal

    KwaZulu-Natal

    Hluhluwe-Imfolozi

    Stays in KwaZulu-Natal
    KwaZulu-Natal

Ways to look

Drive yourself

Your own vehicle and pace, on the park's roads.

Where hosts record it

KrugerCederberg Wilderness AreaGoukammaAnysbergRocherpan

Guided drives from a lodge

A guide who knows where to look, with off-road and night drives in the private reserves.

Where hosts record it

Kwandwe

Species

Gallinula chloropus

Records

4,167

iNaturalist observations

Every booking on Spekboom supports conservation.

Questions travellers ask

A record means a host has seen the Common Moorhen on the property or nearby. It is never a guarantee of a sighting.

Which parks and reserves are best for the Common Moorhen in South Africa?

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Common Moorhen at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Cederberg Wilderness Area, Goukamma Nature Reserve, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Kwandwe Private Game Reserve and Rocherpan Nature Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

Where can you see the Common Moorhen in South Africa?

The Common Moorhen is most recorded in Western Cape (62% of records), Gauteng (19% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (8% of records), based on 4,167 iNaturalist observations. 75 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Common Moorhen on site or nearby.

When is the best time to see the Common Moorhen?

The Common Moorhen is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Cederberg Wilderness Area: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct; Goukamma Nature Reserve: year-round, warm Oct-Apr; Anysberg Nature Reserve: Autumn and spring, Mar-May, Sep-Nov. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

What is the Common Moorhen?

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the waterhen and as the swamp chicken) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.

Stays that give back

Where to stay for a chance to see the Common Moorhen

Every stay on the Common Moorhen page lists the species its host has recorded on or near the property. A record is a sighting, never a promise.

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