Taking coots for granted

Each time I am near a pond, lake or estuary, I look out across the waters and inevitably see an all gray or black bird with a white bill: the American coot (Fulica americana).

The other day, watching these seemingly ever-present birds, I realized that I knew virtually nothing about them. For a bird that I see every week, I was struck by my ignorance regarding this neighbor, someone who shared my community.

When I come across an unusual species, I immediately research it and learn all I can, yet I had completely taken the coot for granted. In the past decade of learning about nature, the only thing I had learned about the coot was its name.

I decided it was time to no longer overlook these birds. I started to watch them more closely and read about them more deeply. I even wondered about its relationship to the "old coot," the venerable old person who is described not only as crotchety but also as eccentric. At first the similarities between the two seemed sparse, but, as I learned more, the bird revealed its eccentricities.

American coots have an amazingly wide range, spanning from northern Canada to Mexico, from the East Coast to the West. They seem to be rare in only a few states in the Northeast.

Although often seen on grass lawns and golf courses, they are most adapted for life on ponds, marshes and estuaries. They grow to a length of 15.5 inches with a wing span of 24 inches, weighing 1.4 pounds.

Not a duck

Often mistaken for ducks in the Anatidae family, coots are part of the order Gruiformes and the family Rallidae. Other members of this family found in California are Virginia rails, soras and common moorhens.

While most birds in this family are shy and solitary, coots stand out as birds that are gregarious and live in flocks. Another peculiarity of this bird in comparison to other Rallidaes is its true adaptation to life in the water. The American coot spends an enormous amount of time swimming and foraging on the water, diving to gather food. Other Rallidae members skulk on the edges of the water, foraging among the vegetation.

All members of Rallidae are omnivorous, eating small vertebrates, invertebrates and plant matter. Coots will feed on berries and fruit and are generally more vegetarian than other rails. Food preferences greatly rely on seasonal availability. It has been found that coots will eat more plant matter in the winter, consuming more animal matter in warmer months.

While rails with longer bills probe in the muck for their food, the shorter billed coots peck at the water, mud and plant material for sustenance. Coots are known to be so aggressive that they will steal food from other birds, ducklings and even humans at campsites.

Given that birds in the Rallidae family live in marshy areas that are dense in vegetation, they have developed some unique adaptations to help them survive. One is that birds in this family are often laterally compressed, hence the saying, "thin as a rail." This allows them to move lithely among long stems without causing a disturbance or indicating their presence to predators.

Perhaps the dense vegetation also affects their communication. Because visual contact is diminished by plant interference, coots and other Rallidaes rely on frequent, loud vocalizations. Being extremely territorial during breeding season, coots emit harsh calls to establish their presence and find a mate.

Coot partnerships

Beyond the crotchety, cootish calls that can be heard in spring, males and females will splash around to attract a partner. Once a pair has bonded for the season, both sexes help to build a shallow platform nest out of stems and dead leaves.

Eight to 10 pinkish eggs with brown spots are laid over 24 to 48 hours and hatch about 23 days later. Because not all eggs are laid at once and incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid, the chicks hatch at different times. This helpful adaptation takes stress off the parents because they don't have to feed the entire brood at once.

Coot hatchlings are black with a bright red head and bill. It has been found that chicks with more conspicuous head plumes are fed more frequently than their siblings. Even in the chicks we see eccentricities called to attention.

So does "old coot" come from the American coot? Do old coots harshly sound like the birds in mating? Does the old man down the street steal food from kids like the birds in the campsite because he can get away with it? Do old ladies wear crazy hats to get more attention?

Maybe there is no similarity at all . . . but I do know that I'll no longer take coots or the old coots in my neighborhood for granted.