American Coot Gallery

Coots in the Fall

An American coot swims in water colored green by the reflection of trees at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon

Going Green

This coot was drinking as it swam but didn’t tilt its head up like I’ve seen some ducks and geese do, I wonder if coots can swallow without relying so heavily on gravity. I tried a search for drinking coots but just got a bunch of links to drunk old men, so for now the mystery will have to live on …

An American coot swims in water colored yellow by the reflection of fall colors in nearby trees at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon

An American coot swims in water colored by the reflection of fall colors in nearby trees at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon

An American coot swims with plants in its mouth in water colored by the reflection of fall colors in nearby trees at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon

Coots in the Winter

American coot pulling plants from the nearly frozen water at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Ice Shelf

Winters in Portland are generally mild, but even we get the occasional cold snap. This one froze much of the water in the ponds at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, forcing the animals into close quarters in the open water that remained. The coots were actively foraging for plant life in the shallow open waters, like this coot feeding in front of a sheet of ice. The foraging not only fed the coots but helped keep the open areas from freezing.

American coot walking across ice at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

American coot standing on ice at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Ice Walk

Coots share many characteristics with ducks — such as how water beads up on their backs — but also have differences. Walking on land (or ice, as the case were), you get a good look at the coot’s enormous feet and can easily see that they are not webbed as they are with ducks.

American coot eating a plant at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Disguise

The bald eagles at Ridgefield NWR prey upon the American coots. Ridgefield hosts a sizable population of coots, so the eagles pose no threat to the sustainability of the coots, but this is little consolation to the individual coot that happens to find itself in the eagle’s large talons and shortly thereafter its stomach.

Evidence of evolution in action, lately the coots have adopted a new technique: disguise.

One such example is this coot, whose large mustache is in fact a plant stem clasped in its beak. Simple but effective, as an eagle approaching for the kill will swerve away at the last moment, thinking that it has accidentally stumbled across not an American coot but a French one, what with its crazy mustache and most likely an outrageous accent.

American coot eating plants at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Salad

A coot surfaces and finishes devouring the plant life it plucked from the bottom of a shallow channel, drops of water still clinging to its back.

American coot in aggressive pose as it chases off a nearby coot at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!

Coots are normally rather gregarious creatures, so its not unusual to see them feeding in small groups or even floating in large rafts. But when it comes time to choose a mate, even coots can get a little testy. This coot was getting an early start while it was yet winter, assuming an agressive posture and chasing off another coot from his little patch of water. A sudden cold snap had frozen most of the pond, so open water was hard to come by.

Swimming towards the other coot in this agressive pose seems to ward off most potential rivals, with the deposed coot getting a running start across the water surface before finally taking to the air.

Coots in the Spring

Two American coots fight during mating season

Restless Rest

Coots congregate in large numbers at Ridgefield during the winter and often stay close together. Come mating season however this camaraderie gets tested, the fights are usually short-lived but this tussle on Rest Lake went on and on. The coots try to hold each other under the water with their legs, at one point the losing coot had disappeared for so long that I thought perhaps it had drowned, but it finally surfaced a long ways away and swimming as fast as it could in the opposite direction.

An American coot sits on its nest at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Staring Contest

This coot's nest sat only a few inches above the waterline, mostly hidden by the tall grasses that border South Quigley Lake. The first click of the camera’s shutter drew a sudden look from the coot, but afterwards it completely ignored me. I saw the coot on several visits but never got a picture, on this last visit I was more determined and inched the car along until I found a clean view through the grasses to the nest.

An American coot searches for food to feed its young at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Feeding Time

The young coot was rapidly growing and learning to search for food on its own, but it was still primarily relying on its parents to find its food.

	Restless Rest Coots congregate in large numbers at Ridgefield during the winter and often stay close together. Come mating season however this camaraderie gets tested, the fights are usually short-lived but this tussle on Rest Lake went on and on. The coots try to hold each other under the water with their legs, at one point the losing coot had disappeared for so long that I thought perhaps it had drowned, but it finally surfaced a long ways away and swimming as fast as it could in the opposite direction.
	Staring Contest This coot's nest sat only a few inches above the waterline, mostly hidden by the tall grasses that border South Quigley Lake. The first click of the camera’s shutter drew a sudden look from the coot, but afterwards it completely ignored me. I saw the coot on several visits but never got a picture, on this last visit I was more determined and inched the car along until I found a clean view through the grasses to the nest.
	Feeding Time The young coot was rapidly growing and learning to search for food on its own, but it was still primarily relying on its parents to find its food.