American Coot

Photo of an American coot.
Scientific Name
Fulica americana
Family
Rallidae (rails, gallinules, coots) in the order Gruiformes
Description

The American coot is a black or dark gray ducklike member of the rail family. Adults have a black head and neck, an ivory-white bill with a black ring near the end, and yellowish green legs with lobed feet. The outside of the under tail feathers is white. Song is a series of chickenlike notes and grating and crying sounds, louder and less nasal than common gallinule.

Similar species: The common gallinule (until recently called the common moorhen) is a rare migrant and locally rare summer resident usually in big river floodplains. The adult resembles a coot but has a red, yellow-tipped bill and a red facial shield. The call is similar to the chickenlike clucking and whinnying of the American coot but higher and more nasal.

Size

Length: 16 inches (tip of bill to tip of tail).

Where To Find
American Coot Distribution Map

Statewide.

Look for American coots on lakes, marshes, ponds, rivers, and swamps. Coots occur in wetlands, preferring marshes dominated by robust emergent vegetation interspersed with water. They require stable water levels during nesting season.

American coots are omnivorous, feeding on a large variety of aquatic and terrestrial vegetation and foraging for a variety of invertebrates and other small animals.

Common migrant. Uncommon summer resident in marshes with nesting numbers fluctuating greatly between high- and low-precipitation years. Uncommon winter resident in the Mississippi lowlands, rare elsewhere. Populations are stable.

Coots weave vegetation into shallow nests that float on water, attached to upright plant stalks. A clutch usually contains 8–12 eggs, which are incubated for 23–25 days. The young are covered with down and are able to leave the nest within hours of hatching. American coots can live for more than 20 years.

Coots are sometimes hunted for sport, but they are usually not considered good eating. In their wetland habitats, their bodies absorb environmental pollutants, and researchers use them as a way of gauging the amount and types of pollutants in the environment.

Don’t underestimate the impact of grazers. Though they seem to only nibble, a group of them steadily nipping at plants can eat a staggering amount of vegetation over time.

Media Gallery
Photo of an American coot.
The American coot is ducklike, with a black head and neck and a pointed, ivory-white bill with a black ring near the end.
Noppadol Paothong
1/7
Photo of an American coot walking on ice, with lobed toes visible.
The American coot has a chickenlike walk and toes with distinctly scalloped lobes.
Noppadol Paothong
2/7
Photo of an American coot floating ducklike in water.
Although it floats like a duck, the American coot is actually in the rail family. Note its short tail and wings and the pointed white bill.
3/7
Photo of an American coot on its nest.
American coots weave vegetation into shallow nests that float on water, attached to upright plant stalks.
Jim Rathert
4/7
Photo of American coot nest, eggs, and young.
An American coot clutch usually contains 8-12 eggs. The young are covered with down and are able to leave the nest within hours of hatching.
Jim Rathert
5/7
Photo of an American coot nestling.
Nestling American coots have blackish down feathers above and orange hairlike feathers around the neck.
6/7
Photo of two American coots standing in shallow water.
American coots are sometimes hunted for sport, but they are usually not considered good eating.
7/7
Photo of an American coot.
Photo of an American coot walking on ice, with lobed toes visible.
Photo of an American coot floating ducklike in water.
Photo of an American coot on its nest.
Photo of American coot nest, eggs, and young.
Photo of an American coot nestling.
Photo of two American coots standing in shallow water.
Similar Species

Where to See Species

roadways overlooking lake at Montrose CA
Montrose Conservation Area
In the early 1950's, a utility company bought nearly 4,000 acres of land along Deepwater Creek in Henry County as a site for a coal fired electrical generating plant and created a 1,600 acre lake to p
John L. and Georgia Girvin Conservation Area
This 747-acre forested conservation area lies in parts of Pemiscot and New Madrid counties.  The tract was donated to the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1986 in memory of John L.
About Birds in Missouri

About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.

Reviewed On