The Urban Pantheist

That last post was a rhetorical question obviously.


It turns out we spent 95% of our time in Venice (you know, where Venice Beach is)
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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.

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