What is a Coot?
By Mike • April 28, 2008 • 16 commentsFor the uninitiated, the word “coot” calls to mind nothing more than doddering old codgers and curmudgeons. Nature lovers, on the other hand, are privy to an entirely new complement of coots, a collection of charming charcoal wading birds found throughout most of the world.
American Coots
Coots are mid-sized waders in the genus Fulica. Technically rails, coots are far more confiding and boldly colored than most of their kin in the family Rallidae. In fact, coots tend to live out loud under our very noses, safe from the scrutiny of an uninformed public that usually mistakes them for ducks in local parks. They resemble stealth gallinules in ninja plumage of black shading down to hues of soot and plumbeous. However, with their pugnacious, territorial ways and bold bills and frontal shields, they’re not sneaking up on anybody!
Battling Black Coots by Charlie Moores
Coots flaunt remarkable fissipalmate feet, which means their toes are lobed. This adaptation shared with other waterbirds like grebes and phalaropes, are useful both to propel the swimming bird and to facilitate passage over matted floating vegetation. They’re also instrumental to coots’ noted hardiness, helping the birds hold up in high temperatures by dissipating excess body heat.
This is what you see next to ‘fissipalmate’ in the dictionary!
There are 11 known living species of coot, many of which reside in South America, and a few extinct species as well:
- The American Coot (F. americana) is a common fixture of waterways all across North America. While it doesn’t usually overlap with other coots, it is distinguishable by its carnelian frontal shield and white bill tipped with a dusky ring. Fulica americana is represented at the western and eastern fringes of its territory by close congeners, the Hawaiian Coot (F. alai) and Caribbean Coot (F.caribaea) respectively.
- The only other coot to appear in large numbers in the northern hemisphere is the Eurasian or Black Coot (F.atra) of Europe and Asia. This common wader presents an unblemished alabaster bill and frontal shield. Charlie has composed a splendid treatise on the differences between Black and American Coots.
- The Andean or Slate-colored Coot (F. ardesiaca) claims the western reaches of South America from top to bottom. ‘Slate-colored’ is hardly diagnostic when talking about coots, so recognize this species by its white bill and canary yellow frontal shield.
- The White-winged Coot (F. leucoptera) overlaps with the Andean Coot to the south but extends east throughout Brazil and the east coast of South America. F. leucoptera shows a broad, rounded gold tone shield and tinged bill.
- The Red-gartered Coot (F. armillata) can be found throughout F. leucoptera’s range but the two are unlikely to be mistaken. This bird has a yellow bill like most of the South American coots with a shield that looks like an exotic, pointed flower petal draped over its nose, mostly white with a ruby base that matches the bird’s eye. The red line connecting the shield to bill is not the garter but the saddle; this bird’s name comes from the reddish coloration of parts of its leg, usually greenish yellow in coots.
- The Red-fronted Coot (F. rufifrons) shares a lot of territory with the previous South American birds. This stocky bird wields a saffron dagger for a bill, an elongated maroon shield, and flaring white undertail coverts.
- The Giant Coot (F. gigantea) is, as the name advertised, the largest of the coots. This scarce bird subverts the usual design paradigm of southwestern South America by presenting a crimson bill, yellow frontal shield, and reddish legs. This coot of the high cordilleran zone is known for building enormous, conspicuous nest platforms in open water.
- The Horned Coot (F. cornuta) also covers the western portions of South America but is near threatened due to both habitat loss and human and animal predation. Another high altitude, platform-nesting coot, this bird has the expected yellow bill, but is famous for the rather unsightly black caruncle in place of a shield. Depending on the bird, this fleshy excrescence can look like a squid, leech, or miniature antler.
- Speaking of unsightly, the Red-knobbed or Crested Coot (F. cristata) is named for a bifurcated bulb resembling a painful blood blister above its white frontal shield. This mark is only evident during breeding season but the baby blue bill is adequate to distinguish the Red-knobbed from Eurasian when the two overlap. F. cristata can be found throughout much of Africa as well as southwestern portions of Europe.
Red-knobbed Coot by Charlie Moores
Who are you calling an old coot?
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Coots are just weird lookin’ birds. I get used to seeing them and then all of a sudden I’ll take a good look and think, “Whhhhhhhaaaaaaattttt?” They are odd ducks!
This is really good, but you forgot to mention that they’re demonic. Which is extremely important to be aware of. I can’t even tell you how many innocent Brooklyn children and old ladies have been dragged under the waters of Prospect Lake by the coots and devoured to the marrow.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention that, Carrie…
Anyway, there are no innocents in Brooklyn!
The Black Coot is one of my favorite species despite being a rather unsocial fellow. One thing that surprise me is the call one would expect the m to sound like a duck but instead it more like a “beep”.
[...] Birds (the only returning blog from Tangled Bank #1 [this post if you’re curious]) describes coots (the bird, not the [...]
We have coots at Lake Murray in San Diego that have characteristics of both American Coots and Eurasian coots. These birds have the red mark on the end of the beak like Fulica americana, but a white forehead (lacking the frontal shield) like Fulica atra. What are they?
Cliff
http://www.beakycoot.com
Cliff, the coot you describe sounds like a Caribbean Coot, but I can’t imagine you have them in San Diego!
Yes, Caribbean coot is most likely, the following link applies:
http://www.geocities.com/secaribbirds/idamericancaribbeancoot.html
The pictures are not very good, so I don’t carry this link on my website.
I am also thinking of the Hawaiian coot:
http://www.pbase.com/jourdaj/hawaiian_coot
My recent pictures from Lake Murray:
http://www.beakycoot.com/LM-1.JPG
http://www.beakycoot.com/LM-2.JPG
Coots like this (and variations) are common at the lake.
I’ll have more information and pictures in the Coot News for June:
http://www.beakycoot.com
Cliff
By the way, the following picture shows good detail in Missy’s right foot. It was bothering her a bit, but she recovered.
http://www.beakycoot.com/foot7.jpg
Cliff
If you go swimming in London’s Hampstead ladies’ bathing pond during summertime, coots and their spectacularly ugly children sit on the life belts that are dotted around the deep end. When you go past, you can see their weird toes hanging over the edge in extreme closeup. It’s not for everybody, but I call it fun.
Do Coots mate for life?
Research indicates that coots will stay mated so long as they can keep their territory for nesting. Migration is problematic if the pair becomes separated. Since I am on the winter end of migration, my observations are limited. It seems that winter philopatry in coots only comes with first-year birds, and I will be watching for the return of six individuals from last winter. One pair, “Freddie and Mollie”, is especially important since Freddie was a returnee from 2006/2007 who again returned in October, 2007. In November, 2007 he met Mollie, a small female whom I don’t recall seeing before. They bonded instantly, and maintained a territory south of my dock until they left in March. Stupid Marvin will of course be back for his fifth year, and has never kept a mate in winter.
Cliff
[...] hardly a secret that we love coots around here (the birds, not senile old men!) We love them in their magnificent diversity from their black, beknobbed heads to their fantastic fissipalmate feet. Our affection for them is [...]
Same for the coot, if you have a Cheezit cracker in you pocket and give the coot a few crumbs. If you hand feed them every day so that they can clearly see your face, coots will form lifelong bonds with people. It is always gratifying to have old friends come running up to me in the fall when I haven’t seen them for six months.
Cliff
I was kind of surprised to see what I thought was a dark duck in the middle of the road this morning. I picked him up, and on my lunch break got him to Wildlife Rescue’s vet. It was then I learned the duck was a coot. Thanks to your site, I now know more about the lil fella. He has a busted wing and left foot, but seemed pretty alert when I left him.And those are some feet on him!
Thanks for the info. Hope the bird’s wing can be fixed. A coot can live with a foot missing, but most US rescua and rehab agencies won’t keep a bird that can’t be released. It’s just expensive and time consuming to care for a crippled bird, especially one like a coot that lives for twenty years.