Common moorhenTeichhuhn Gallinula chloropus
Family: Rails, moorhens, and coots
Dark slate with a browner back, a red frontal shield and a yellow-tipped bill, the moorhen is smaller than a coot and shows a white flank line and white undertail flicked with each step. It walks on lily pads and grazes on the banks of ponds, canals and park lakes. Germany holds breeding birds year-round, with migrants and winter visitors swelling numbers on ice-free water.