gallinule, any of several species of marsh birds belonging to the rail family, Rallidae, in the order Gruiformes. Gallinules occur in temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions worldwide and are about the size of bantam hens but with a compressed body like the related rails and coots. They are about 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 inches) long, with long, thin toes that enable them to run over floating vegetation and with a prominent frontal shield (a fleshy plate on the forehead). Many species have brightly coloured areas of plumage or skin.
Gallinules are noisy and inquisitive birds, less furtive in their actions than most rails. Many are migratory. They build bulky nests of rushes on or near the water.
The common gallinule (Gallinula chloropus), blackish with a scarlet frontal shield, is called the moorhen or water hen where it occurs in Europe and Africa. Its North American race (G. chloropus cachinnans) is sometimes known as the Florida gallinule.
The purple gallinule of America (Porphyrula martinica), sometimes called water hen or sultana, is about 30 cm long and is bright olive green and purplish blue with a light blue shield, red and yellow bill, and yellow legs and feet. It is found from South Carolina and Texas to northern Argentina. A related species is the lesser purple gallinule (P. alleni), of Africa.
The purple gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio), sometimes called purple swamphen, is about 45 cm long. It occurs around the Mediterranean region and is widely distributed in Africa, southern Asia, and Australia.
Of the many peculiar flightless island forms throughout the world, some, such as the takahe (q.v.), are nearly extinct and others have become extinct recently.