The first Lesser Moorhen for France was found in Corsica on 6 March, following a run of recent sightings within the Western Palearctic (WP).
Jacques Artieda seen the fowl in a newly cleared wetland and posted pictures on his weblog, with the fowl’s yellow invoice and darkish culmen catching Thomas Galewski’s eye and resulting in the identification as a juvenile Lesser Moorhen.
France’s first Lesser Moorhen at Ajaccio, Corcisa, in March 2024 (Antoine Leoncini).
There has been a spate of Western Palearctic data of Lesser Moorhen since 2019, with the Ajaccio fowl being the fourth within the area in 2024, with others showing within the Azores, Spain and Egypt. Prior to 2019, there have been solely three WP data.
The fast change in vagrancy standing suggests the occurrences are being pushed by local weather change, mirroring will increase and excessive occurrences of different African species.
The sighting has additionally highlighted the potential of the wetlands close to Ajaccio as an space for rarity discovering, being properly placed to obtain vagrants shifting north out of Africa.