adult

adult juvenile European distribution adults

Identification

Coots are blissfully easy to identify, being entirely charcoal grey apart from the white bill and facial shield. The juvenile is browner with a mostly white neck and face but never has the white under-tail of a Moorhen. Coot chicks are engagingly ugly like an old woman whose orange dye is causing her hair to fall out.

Habitat

Breeds on the edges of lakes, ponds and rivers. Winters on large lakes, reservoirs and estuaries.

Behaviour

A particularly aggressive species, Coots spend a lot of time fighting; for example, by leaning backwards in the water and grappling with their big feet. Such interaction should be minimised by an established social hierarchy but this seems to be based on minimal differences in the size of the white frontal shield. Coots should avoid picking fights if they see that the frontal shield of the other bird is bigger than their own but this clearly doesn't stop many fights.

Migration

Mainly sedentary.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Coot is classed as Common: common species, including species that are certain or probable escapees from captivity when occurring in the British Isles. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Oxford Island NNR, Armagh 22/08/2009	Abberton Resr, Essex 06/02/2010	Abberton Resr, Essex 06/02/2010	Inner Marsh Fm, Cheshire 06/02/2010	Thurstaston, Cheshire 20/02/2009
Martin Mere, Lancs 01/02/2010	Martin Mere, Lancs 01/02/2010	Martin Mere, Lancs 01/02/2010	Needham Market, Suffolk 31/01/2010	Needham Market, Suffolk 31/01/2010

 View all pictures of Coot

Coot breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Britain
Bulgaria
Canary Islands
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lichtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madeira
Moldova
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine

http://www.avibirds.com/euhtml/Coot.html   Avibirds: Coot	Edit this link
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http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob4290.htm   BTO BirdFacts: Coot	Edit this link
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	Separation of Red-knobbed Coot and Coot	Friday 7th April 2006
	Red-knobbed Coot is one of the rarest breeding European birds. Available only in Spain and Morocco for Western Palearctic listers, separation from Coot can be tricky. Find out how in our latest identification article.

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