Common Moorhen

The moorhen is a distinctive rail with predominantly black and brown plumage, a white under-tail, white streaks on the flanks, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The bill is red with a yellow tip. Young birds are browner and lack the red shield. The adult shield has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides, and its tailward margin is a smooth waving line. The subspecies meridionalis is smaller than the nominate, with slaty blue-grey upperwing coverts and no olive wash, and orientalis is similar but has a larger shield. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Also known as the waterhen, the common moorhen is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe and Asia. It lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. It is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests, and is generally one of the most common Old World rails, together with the Eurasian coot in some regions. (Wikipedia, general species account)