365 Urban Species. #050: American Coot

[urbpan]

Photos by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #50: American coot Fulica americana

The American coot is something of a rarity in New England, but can be reliably found in several urban locations in the winter. A handful of these odd-looking birds keeps company with mallards on Jamaica Pond and Chandler Pond, two Boston bodies of water. They are fairly common throughout the rest of North America, and in fact occur in South America as well. In Eurasia they are replaced by the European coot. In some locations coots are called "mud hens" or "marsh hens."

In habit and habitat coots resemble mallards. The dabble or dive for aquatic vegetation or invertebrates, and they will accept handouts in city parks. They are in an entirely different family of birds, however, as one can tell by their chicken-like bill, and especially their feet. While ducks and geese have feet adapted for swimming through an enlargement of their toe webbing, coots and their relatives swim with feet that have flattened and enlarged lobes of the toes. This feature can be seen in the photo below.

Comments

[turil.livejournal.com]

How cute!

Recently I was reading an autobiographical story that my grandmother had written about growing up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (just south of Portland). She talked about one of her brothers who liked to go out to the islands to shoot coot to eat. I thought it was a typo and it was supposed to be "coon" as in racoon. Though that didn't sound to edible. I was pretty sure that she wasn't implying that her brother was a cannibal - shooting grumpy old people. But then I looked up "coot" in the dictionary and discovered that a coot was a water bird. I had no idea that there were coots. And I definitely didn't have any idea that there were coots in Boston!

So, thanks. I'll have to keep my eye out for them next time I'm near some water...

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

People do eat raccoons. My dad used to trap them in Jacksonville, Florida and sell them to people.