What's the difference between a coot and a moorhen?

Coots and moorhens are from the Rallidae family, which also includes rails and crakes. Both found in similar wetland environments with dark plumage, coots and moorhens are often confused.

The difference between coots and moorhens

The coot has black plumage with a distinctive white frontal shield and beak, whereas moorhens have dark brown-black plumage with a smaller red frontal shield and beak. The moorhen's red beak is tipped with yellow.

The easiest way to remember this difference is that the 'R' in moorhen stands for 'red' beak. There is no 'R' in coot.

How to identify a coot

Coots are bigger than moorhens with black-charcoal plumage. They have silver-grey legs with large lobed toes. Males and females are alike.

How to identify a moorhen

Moorhens are slightly smaller than coots with a black head, neck, and mantle. However, they have a brown back with dark, slate-grey undersides, white under the tail and a white stripe along the side. Moorhens have yellow legs and feet, which resemble those of a chicken.

How to tell the difference between baby coots and baby moorhens

The white beak and frontal shield of adult coots won't help you identify the difference between juveniles as they both have red beaks.

However, the baby coot (pictured left) has a slightly more cream-coloured tip compared to the baby moorhen's yellow one (pictured right). Young coots also have red and orange-tinged fluff around the head, whereas moorhens have brown bald patches.

Still not sure if it's a coot or moorhen? Coots are far more likely to spend their time in the open water, while moorhens prefer to secrete themselves in the bank-side vegetation.