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These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

Coot

These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

Coots , are medium-sized water birds which are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. They are close relatives of the moorhen. The greatest species variety is in South America, and it is likely that the genus originated there. They are common in Europe and North America.

Coot

Coots , are medium-sized water birds which are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute…

"Fulicia. Coot. Bill and frontal plate much as in the Gallinultes. Body depressed; the under plumage thick and duck-like, to resist water. feet highly natatorial' toes, including the hinder, lobate, being furnished with large semicircular membranous flaps. The Coots are eminently aquatic birds, swimming with ease, by means of their lobate feet, like phalaropes and grebes; but this ability results from very slight modification of a structure shared by the Rails and Gallinules. There are about ten species, of both hemispheres, distinguished, among other characters, by the size and shape of the frontal shield. That, for instance, is of an exotic species, much larger than that of Fulica americana, and differently shaped. One species is remarkable for having the forehead singularly carunculate; the others closely resemble our common species." Elliott Coues, 1884

Coot Head

"Fulicia. Coot. Bill and frontal plate much as in the Gallinultes. Body depressed; the under plumage…

Averaging about sixteen inches in length, the common coot of Europe is found throughout Europe and Asia.

Common European coot

Averaging about sixteen inches in length, the common coot of Europe is found throughout Europe and Asia.

"Fig. 53 shows the lobate foot of a coot. In the lobate foot, a paddle results not from connecting webs, but from a series of lobes or flaps along the sides of the individual toes; as in the coots, grebes, phalaropes, and sun-birds. Lobation is usually associated with semipalmation, as is well seen in the grebes (Podicipedidae). In the snipe-like pharalopes (Phalaropodidae), lobation is present as a modification of a foot otherwise quite cursorial. The most emphatic cases of lobation are those in which each joint of the toes has its own flap, with a free convex border; the membranes as whole therefore present a scolloped outline." Elliot Coues, 1884

Coot Foot

"Fig. 53 shows the lobate foot of a coot. In the lobate foot, a paddle results not from connecting webs,…

"Fig. 53 bis - shows the lobate foot of a phalarope. In the lobate foot, a paddle results not from connecting webs, but from a series of lobes or flaps along the sides of the individual toes; as in the coots, grebes, phalaropes, and sun-birds. Lobation is usually associated with semipalmation, as is well seen in the grebes (Podicipedidae). In the snipe-like pharalopes (Phalaropodidae), lobation is present as a modification of a foot otherwise quite cursorial. The most emphatic cases of lobation are those in which each joint of the toes has its own flap, with a free convex border; the membranes as whole therefore present a scolloped outline." Elliot Coues, 1884

Phalarope Foot

"Fig. 53 bis - shows the lobate foot of a phalarope. In the lobate foot, a paddle results not from connecting…

"In ornithology, pinnatiped; having pinnate feet, the toes being separately furnished with flaps, as in the grebes, coots, phalaropes, fin-foots, etc." -Whitney, 1911

Fin-Footed Coot Foot

"In ornithology, pinnatiped; having pinnate feet, the toes being separately furnished with flaps, as…

These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

Gallinule

These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

Rail

These birds are weak fliers, preferring to hide from predators.

Common in Europe and North America, the velvet scoter is also known as the white-winged coot.

Velvet Scoter

Common in Europe and North America, the velvet scoter is also known as the white-winged coot.