Best time to see: all year
Key facts
Common bird of any freshwater habitat, including town parks, with distinctive red and yellow bill
Name is a corruption of mere-hen, meaning bird of the lakes
Widespread and common resident, breeding in thick cover by the side of lakes, ponds and rivers
Recognition
Dumpy, black below, brown upperparts, yellow legs, red and yellow bill, white flash on tail; 30–32 cm
Walks with chicken-like jerky movements of the head; jerks its tail when swimming, showing the white flash
Dabbles to eat molluscs, plants, seeds and aquatic insects; dives and hides under water when alarmed
Lifecycle
Males defend their territory fiercely against all-comers, sometimes causing injury
Both parents build a platform of dried vegetation, on or near the ground near water, or sometimes in a bush nearby
Normally two, sometimes 3 broods of 5-11 buff eggs, speckled red-brown, March–July
© Owen Keen
© Alan Williams