Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus in the diet of ... - Indian Birds

Kumar & Kumar: Slaty-breasted Rail in Dehradun 

The fate of the other chicks was not known and even along 

other parts of the stream there were no signs of the birds including 

the adult. Considering their skulking habits it is possible that we 

missed spotting the birds, however, we wondered whether the 

other chicks had been predated. The lone chick was repeatedly 

sighted for a few more days—it was last seen was on 22nd August 

2007. Going by the severity of winter in Dehradun and the fact 

that many resident birds migrate locally from the campus, we 

suspected the rail had departed too. In the summer of 2008, 

we awaited the arrival of the Slaty-breasted Rail, hoping that it 

would breed again on the campus. And to our joy, a single adult 

Slaty-breasted Rail was seen at the same location along the stream 

on 28th June 2008 at 1245 hrs. Alas this was the only sighting in 

2008. Ali & Ripley (2001) report that this species is resident, but 

moves about locally under the stress of drought or flood. Thus, 

this breeding record of the Slaty-breasted Rail in the WII campus 

may have been a result of such movements. 

Within the WII campus seven other species of Rallids have 

been recorded previously, namely, Water Rail Rallus aquaticus, 

Baillon’s Porzana pusilla, Brown P. akool and Ruddy-breasted 

Crakes P. fuscata, White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus, 

Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus, and Eurasian Coot Fulica 

atra. White-breasted Waterhen and Common Moorhen have been 

observed to regularly breed within the campus while the other 

species are only occasionally seen. 

Fig. 2. Juvenile Slaty-breasted Rail Rallus striatus. 

References 

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. 2001. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together 

with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Vol 2. 2nd ed. 

Delhi: (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford 

University Press [Oxford India Paperbacks.]. 

Rasmussen, P. C. & Anderton, J. C. 2005. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley 

guide. 2 vols. Washington, D.C.; Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution; 

Lynx Edicions. 

Pankaj Kumar 

Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus in the diet of the 

African Catfish Clarias gariepinus in Keoladeo Ghana 

National Park, India 

K. R. Anoop, K. S. Gopi Sundar, Bholu Abrar Khan & Sohan Lal 

Anoop, K. R., Sundar, K. S. G., Khan, B. A. & Lal, S. 2009. Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus in the diet of the African catfish Clarias 

gariepinus in Keoladeo Ghana National Park, India. Indian Birds 5 (2): 22–23. 

K. R. Anoop, Director, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. 

K.S. Gopi Sundar, Research Associate, International Crane Foundation, E-11376, Shady Lane Road, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA. (Author 

for communication); Email: gopi@savingcranes.org. 

Bholu Abrar Khan, Forester, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. 

Sohan Lal, Forest Guard, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. 

Mss received on 17th March 2009. 

The Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus is a widespread 

and common wetland bird species globally, also occurring 

commonly in India. There are very few observations of 

predation on this species (Bannor & Kiviat 2002). On 8th March 

2009 we fished out a large African catfish Clarias gariepinus at 

Keoladeo Ghana National Park (KGNP) as part of a reconnaissance 

study on the diet of this invasive fish species. We retrieved a freshly 

eaten carcass of an adult Common Moorhen from the stomach 

of the fish. The fish measured 72 cm from snout to tail tip with a 

gape of 14.5 cm. 

Fish predation on birds in freshwater habitats is not uncommon, 

though usually chicks are taken (Lagler 1956). Predation of adult 

waterbirds is commoner in marine habitats, which have larger 

fish (Glegg 1945, 1947; Straneck et al. 1983; Carlson et al. 2002). 

Common Moorhen mortality records by fish are very rare and are 

from outside India. Chicks have been recovered from stomachs of 

largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (Bell & Cordes 1977), and 

one adult each has been recovered from the stomach of pike Esox 

lucius (Glegg 1947) and eel Anguilla anguilla (Glegg 1945). 

The African catfish is a very widespread invasive fish species 

and is suspected to be a major threat to native fish fauna (Casal 

2006; de Silva et al. 2009). It is an omnivore / predator that feeds 

mostly on fish (de Graaf & Janssen 1996), and birds have not 

been recorded in its diet before. The fish was first seen in KGNP 

in 2004 (BAK pers. obs.). It is thought to have been distributed to 

villagers in surrounding villages for pisciculture and is believed 

to have entered the park by accident. It is a hardy species that 

can survive dry seasons due to the presence of its accessory air 

breathing organs (de Graaf & Janssen 1996). It is possible that 

local fish species are being out-competed by this fast growing 

and rapidly reproducing invasive. Owing to the wide head of the 

African catfish, the bigger individuals are not eaten by waterbirds 

in the park; the Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus has been 

observed to choke on this species (BAK pers. obs.). This invasive 

22 Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 1 (Publ. 10th June 2009)

Anoop et al.: Common Moorhen 

species therefore appears to be a serious and new problem to 

KGNP’s ecosystem owing to its potential to out-compete and / 

or crowd out local fish species thereby reducing the prey-base 

for waterbirds, and predating on waterbirds. An appraisal of the 

impact of the fish on local fauna is currently being planning. 

Acknowledgements 

KSGS thanks L. Shyamal and A. Pittie for providing references at very short 

notice, and we thank S. Kittur for field support during the observation. 

References 

Bannor, B. K. & Kiviat, E. 2002. Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), 

The birds of North America online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell 

Lab of Ornithology. URL: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.floyd.lib.umn.edu/ 

bna/species/685. doi:10.2173/bna.685. 

Bell, G. R. & Cordes, C. L. 1977. Ecological investigation of Common and 

Purple gallinules on Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana. 

Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeast Association of Fish 

and Wildife Agencies 31: 295–299. 

Carlson, J. K., Grace, M. A. & Lago, P. K. 2002. An observation of juvenile 

Tiger Sharks feeding on Clapper Rails off the southeastern coast of 

the United States. Southeastern Naturalist 1: 307–310. 

Casal, C. M. V. (Ed.) 2006. Global documentation of fish introductions: the 

growing crisis and recommendations for action. Biological Invasions 

8: 3–11. 

de Graaf, G. & Janssen, H. 1996. Artificial reproduction and pond rearing 

of the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus in sub-saharan Africa: A 

handbook. URL: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3595e/w3595e00. 

HTM. 

de Silva, S. S., Nguyen, G. T. T., Turchini, G. M., Amarasinghe, U. S. & 

Abery, N. W. 2009. Alien species in aquaculture and biodiversity: a 

paradox in food production. Ambio 38: 24–28. 

Glegg, W. E. 1945. Fishes and other aquatic animals preying on birds. The 

Ibis 87: 422–433. 

Glegg, W. E. 1947. Fishes and other aquatic animals preying on birds: 

additional matter. The Ibis 89: 433–435. 

Lagler, K. F. 1956. The Pike, Esox lucius Linnaeus, in relation to waterfowl 

on the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Michigan. Journal of Wildlife 

Management 20: 114–124. 

Straneck, R., Livezey, B. C. & Humphrey, P. S. 1983. Predation on Steamer- 

Ducks by Killer Whale. The Condor 85: 255–256.v 

Vijay Sirdesai 

Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 

Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 1 (Publ. 10th June 2009) 

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