Coot
Fulica atra
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Sooty black with a white bill and forehead shield — and spectacularly bad-tempered with its neighbours.
A round, sooty-black waterbird with a striking white bill and a white frontal shield running up the forehead — the source of 'bald as a coot'. Its feet are lobed rather than webbed. Coots are common on lochs, reservoirs, ponds and slow water around Dumfries all year, preferring more open water than the moorhens they are often confused with.
Behaviour
Coots dive for water plants, bobbing up like corks, and also graze on the bank. They are famously aggressive: territorial disputes involve two birds rearing back on the water and striking at each other with their big feet, and they will chase off ducks, swans and each other with equal enthusiasm. Chicks are startling — black down with a bald red-and-blue head and orange facial plumes.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Rails and crakes (Rallidae)
- Size
- 36–38 cm
- UK status
- Green-listed
Photo by Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons