American Coots
by Susan McMenamin
Title
American Coots
Artist
Susan McMenamin
Medium
Photograph
Description
The waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck. A close look at a coot—that small head, those scrawny legs—reveals a different kind of bird entirely. Their dark bodies and white faces are common sights in nearly any open water across the continent, and they often mix with ducks. But they’re closer relatives of the gangly Sandhill Crane and the nearly invisible rails than of Mallards or teal. Although it swims like a duck, the American Coot does not have webbed feet like a duck. Instead, each one of the coot’s long toes has broad lobes of skin that help it kick through the water. American Coots in the winter can be found in rafts of mixed waterfowl and in groups numbering up to several thousand individuals. Photographed here in Wisconsin.
Uploaded
May 4th, 2018
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Viewed 203 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/13/2024 at 10:49 PM
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