American coot with its young.

When is a duck not a duck?  When it's a coot.

Ubiquitous across most of North America, the American coot, usually just referred to as the coot, is a common sight on water bodies.  These hardy birds are not ducks and are more closely related to rails and cranes.  One good look at their feet should convince you of that.  Google "American coot feet" and compare the resulting images to duck feet and it should be obvious.  Since water birds are not in the habit of displaying their feet, consider their beaks.  Ducks have bills (specialized flattened structures) while coots have beaks.  Note:  the terms bills and beaks are often used interchangeably and are considered synonyms by some, yet I would never suggest an eagle has a bill.

I took the above photograph early in the summer while the birds were rearing their young.  This was the first time I had ever seen a coot chick before and was surprised by their awkward appearance and colour scheme.  If I was to pen a fable on the ugly duckling, I would have picked this chick as the protagonist.  The adult may not be as stately as a swan, but numbers count.  This is one successful bird.

Coots are primarily vegetarians eating a wide assortment of water plants and even a modicum of terrestrial ones.  They have been seen taking insects and small vertebrates such as tadpoles.  I have witnessed them diving under the water and surfacing with a small sprig of some aquatic plant.  Large numbers of them can devour tons of such foods in a short period of time.  They are an important part of the food web where osprey, eagles, aggressive predatory fish (pike, bass), and a host of nest assailants will cull their numbers.  It seems success may have its drawbacks.

Thanks for reading.  

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com