American Coot
Photos by Greg Clark, June 2005, Sierra Valley, California
The American
Coot is a member of the rail family of birds. Unlike the other
rails, coots are not secretive. They swim out in the open and
form winter flocks that can be quite large. Swimming along and
clucking some annoyance when people are around, the American Coot
is a very handsome bird. The baby birds begin swimming with the
adults very early, as this very young bird is doing here. The
adult is offering plant food to the baby which has completely
different plumage than the adults.
Junior takes off with breakfast.
The nest is built
on dried marsh vegetation that sometimes is floating on the water
and attached to the surrounding marsh. Well hidden from predators
on the marsh side, the nest can only be seen from above or from
the entrance to the water. The two baby birds have practically
no wing structure yet, but that doesn't keep them from swimming
with their proud parents and learning about how to find food.
Copyright Greg Clark, 2005
update 8/2012
