American Coot (Fulica americana)
Did you
know that thousands of American Coots descend upon Florida’s freshwater and
coastal wetlands during winter months? They migrate from as far north as
Canada, adding to our few resident coots. On lakes, shallow ponds and wetlands,
they congregate, swimming together serenely in a group, jockeying their places,
dipping their heads or diving under the water. Dipping their heads or flipping
in unison, tails pointed in the air, they pull out their food of algae and
aquatic plants roots, shoots, leaves, and seeds. They also may eat small
aquatic animals as well as grazing on grasses and some grains. Notice their odd
feet in Barbara Whitlam’s photograph. The lobes between each toe segment allow
it to use its long toes to walk effectively on squishy mud or atop vegetation,
yet act as ‘fins’ when swimming.
America Coots pump their heads when swimming, like a chicken thrusts its head
forward and back as it walks. Though at first glance we may think they are
small ducks, their bill shape is more pointed, with a white shield extending up
their forehead. By beating their small wings and feet rapidly fleeing, they
whirl noisily across water to escape into dense vegetation for cover. Yet here
in Florida, we most often see them huddled in large flocks, loafing on the water,
or all together start tipping up their tails, head under water searching for
and devouring plants. Coots have smaller wings than ducks and thus do not fly
as fast, so unlike ducks, they migrate under cover of night to avoid the
predators that feed during the day.
Ancient fossils of American Coot bones have been found across North America
from the Pliocene and Cenozoic eras millions of years before Homo sapiens
evolved. What kind of birds did early Native Americans eat? Early kitchen
midden excavations reveal almost half of the bird bones found are from American
Coots, maybe because being slower than ducks, they were more easily hunted!
Juanita Baker, Coordinator
Florida Bird Photo of the Month
Pelican Island Audubon Society