Coots look clumsy when bobbing about in the water, but amazingly they look even more awkward out of the water, like this one that I spotted Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. Their green feet, which are not webbed like those of a duck, seem disproportionately large and almost cartoonish, like the oversized Hulk hands that I have seen little kids wear at times in the past.
When I first started photographing birds, I assumed that American Coots (Fulica americana) were part of the duck family. After all, coots swam in the water, were about the same size as some ducks, and sometimes seemed to hang out with ducks.
When I did a little research, however, I learned that coots are not at all related to ducks. As the Cornell Lab of Ornithology points out, “they’re closer relatives of the gangly Sandhill Crane and the nearly invisible rails than of Mallards or teal.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Great photo and thanks for your research! I have always thought the same re. duck …good to know!!
In Fla, the cots use their large feet to walk among the lily pads. There is a particularly pretty one called the purple galanule. In Holland, however, the cots just Bob around in the rough waters of the North Sea.
The other day as we were sitting in a restaurant alongside a narrow river in Hertford, UK, we spotted a coot very busy with taking twigs that floated around in his beak and bringing them to the side where there was a hole, out came another coot from the hole and she must have been the female, they were building a nest, never seen this before, the male was franticly busy collecting twigs, that floated down the river, as was the female doing the building. We watched it for a long time, was real nice.
Hi Mike. Nice post. I was just thinking that you might like to look up the Pukeko of New Zealand, or even better the chicks. They have even longer legs, and being a slender bird, look very awkward indeed. 🙂
I checked out some photos of the Pukeko and it has some similarities to our American Coot. Its long legs indeed make it look like it was made for a cartoon and not for real life. New Zealand seems to have a wide variety of interesting species to photograph (and great scenery too)–it’s a place I would love to visit,
There are quite a number of endemic bird species here for sure…but then nature is everywhere and it is wonderful to be able to appreciate what is on your doorstep most of all I think. I kind of wish I had done that more in the UK before we moved. 🙂
What you say is true about other aspects of our local areas too. I live near Washington D.C. and rarely take advantage of my proximity to visit the monuments and museums that tourists come to see from thousands of miles away. As for wildlife and birds, I love following the seasonal ebbs and flow most of all at my favorite marshland park, the location of the majority of the photos in my blog postings.
Love those Coot feet :). Great shot on a lovely-looking day☀
It’s nice that we are getting some sunny days, though I wish the wind would die down a bit more.
We saw a similar view a few weeks ago, but were unable to capture the shot – wonderful job! Love his feet!
It’s a bit unusual to see a coot out of the water and I was thrilled to be able to capture an image.