Overview
American Coot: Medium-sized, chicken-like swimming bird, dark gray to black overall, short, white bill and undertail coverts. Toes are lobed, not webbed. Upper edge of frontal shield is red, but usually only visible at close range. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats, feet protrude past tail.
Range and Habitat
American Coot: Breeds from British Columbia, western Canada, and New York locally southward. Usually spends winters north to British Columbia, Kansas, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Preferred habitats include open ponds and marshes. Found on coastal bays and inlets, often occurring in large rafts during winter.
Topo Map:
Chicken-like-Marsh Body
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"ke-yik", "k-rrk"
Interesting Facts
Even though the American Coot swims like a duck, they do not have webbed feet, the toes have lobes on the sides of each segment.
Coots are kleptoparasitic, which means that when they don’t feel like hunting for their own food, they’ll steal their meal from other birds.
They are nick named "marsh hen" or "mud hen" because of they way their heads bob when they walk or swim.
A group of coots has many collective nouns, including a "codgery", "commotion", "fleet", "shoal", and "swarm" of coots.
Bird Term Glossary
Author
Gary Owen Dick
Related Birds
Pied-billed Grebe
Common Moorhen
Purple Gallinule
Sora
Eurasian Coot
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