Species

American coot

Fulica americana

A slate-grey, white-billed water bird with lobed toes, often mistaken for a duck on winter ponds.

Photo Frank Schulenburg (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 34 to 43 cm long
Weight: About 430 to 850 g
Habitat: Ponds, lakes, marshes, golf-course ponds and stormwater ponds
Diet: Aquatic plants, algae, insects and snails
In Georgia: A common winter visitor; a few breed
Voice: Grunts, clucks and cackles
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Dark grey with a black head; white bill with a small red-brown shield; red eye; green legs with lobed toes
Told apart from: Common gallinule, which has a red shield and yellow-tipped bill
Told apart from: Ducks, which have flat bills and webbed feet
Where to look: Large flocks on ponds and lakes, and grazing on lawns by water

Behaviour

Coots dive, dabble and graze on land. They run across the water to take off, and in flocks they splash and squabble constantly. Their toes have broad lobes rather than webs, which help them swim and walk on mud.

Why they matter

American coots are a major winter food for bald eagles on Georgia's reservoirs; eagles often hunt them by making repeated passes until a coot tires. Coots eat large amounts of aquatic plants and are a basic part of the wetland food web.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A floating platform of plants
Eggs — Usually 8 to 12
Incubation — About 21 to 25 days
Chicks — Black with bright orange-red heads; leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about seven to eight weeks
Lifespan — Several years

Living around people

Coots graze lawns by ponds in winter and move on in spring.
Bread fills coots without nourishing them.
A coot on a road or car park cannot take off from land and needs help.

Misconceptions

Coots are ducks. They are rails, with lobed toes and a chicken-like bill.
A coot that runs across the water is fleeing danger. Running is how coots take off.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering flocks	Wintering	Migrating north	Last birds leave	Nesting farther north; a few in Georgia	Nesting	Chicks	Young independent	Migration begins	Arriving in Georgia	Wintering flocks	Wintering flocks

Where it lives

Recorded in 89 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

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