The Coot by danob
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Description
Another in the series of common birds we can take for granted..
The Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra), or just Coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.
It breeds across much of the Old World on freshwater lakes and ponds. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, but migrates further south and west from much of Asia in winter as the waters freeze.
The Coot is much less secretive than most of the rail family, and can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands. It is an aggressive species, and strongly territorial during the breeding season.
It is reluctant to fly and when taking off runs across the water surface with much splashing. They do the same, but without actually flying, when travelling a short distance at speed (to escape a rival, for example, or to dispute possession of a choice morsel). As with many rails, its weak flight does not inspire confidence, but on migration, usually at night, it can cover surprisingly large distances. It bobs its head as it swims, and makes short dives from a little jump.
It is largely black except for the white facial shield (which gave rise to the phrase "as bald as a coot"). As a swimming species, the Coot has partial webbing on its long strong toes. The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield; the adult black plumage develops when about 3-4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old, some time later. The bird in the photo is a mature female.
This species builds a nest usually of dead reeds near the water's edge, laying up to 10 eggs. But she has been resourceful and selected anything found to build her nest like string etc left by fishermen...
The Coot is an omnivore, and will take a variety of small live prey including the eggs of other water birds.
This is a noisy bird with a wide repertoire of crackling, explosive or trumpeting calls, often given at night. Very protective of her nest her male partner was chasing off birds as large as swans..
Thanks for taking time to look and feel free to comment if you wish..
Comments (33)
HEHE thanks for the info have them here but didn't know what they were! Oh and the pic Great capruter!
Excellent and very opportune shot my friend...!!! Very good natural illumination.....!!!!
oooooooooooooo she is very creative with her nest building.....I see colourful hair rubbers.......LOL...nice image......yep spring is there
Thanks for the picture,my wife feeds birds like these on the canal,but they have a red head.I know she will love this when I show her
Beautiful capture of such a common bird...... u make her interesting.;)
Nice spot mate! My 'L' refuses to autofocus on these little fellows, no contrast I guess. Looking forwards to more in this series!
Nice image and write up - see this one has been collecting beads :)
Interesting! Love the shot (hard to get??) and the information about this little bird.
Excellent!!
wonderful shot of this nesting coot... well done as always !
very good capture!!! and excellent color and lighting my friend ;)well done! good evening and kiss
Nice shot. I find this coots at nearly each lake in Bavaria. Most time there is a single specimen between many colorful dugs. Then I like to make the joke to say: Look at this coot, that's me.
So interesting! Thank you for the info and this pretty little "noisy" bird. :-) Excellent close up on her nest it seems. She looks a bit like our pidgeons but I've never seen a coot before. Beautiful work!
Intresting indeed...and thanks for the info on this bird.... Vote n hugs Susan~
Awesome capture and beautiful bird!
Beautiful photo and great info. Tks Danny :^)
What a beautiful plump bird!
The info. you gave is as interesting as the picture. A very well captured shot. Thanks.
I thought it was an egg till I saw her head:-) You always give so good info along with your great shots, so it is easy to love "your birds". common or rare.
Nice catpure , thanks very much for infos !
Uncommonly lovely colors! Beautiful eyes! V (:
Excellent info and capture!
The expression of color tones and values handles the image carefully.
Nesting and guarding it eggs. Eventually they will hatch and one will fly the coot. Beautiful capture. Aloha
Yes, we have lots of them here. They are so common that I rarely pay any attention to them.. but I should as this image shows to me.
Thanks for sharing the info and this wonderful photo. We don't have these birds around here.
Not as crisp as your usual photographs. Excellent capture, though ! Thanks for sharing !!! V
Coot capture of this coot coot! :) Fantastic work, Danny!
LOL I thought a coot was an old man...I had no idea it was a bird.Fascinating shot of him and wonderful info as well.Thanks for sharing.-M :^)
absolutely superb photo, i like your fotostory, thanks my friend:-)