Female American Coot and Her Baby

 

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw a female American Coot and her brood  in mid-August. The chicks are usually seen with their mother in early summer.

Three chicks followed their mother, and the smallest one was constantly asking for food.

Why did the female Coot fish a piece of plant out of the swamp? Accidentally or intentionally?  I am sure the baby was surprised too. 

Generally, life is good.

American Coot Parents and Their Chicks

 

American Coot chicks have already matured and are independent.  It happened so fast that it's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago the parents were taking care of the young feeding them incessantly.

  

I recently learned why Coot chicks are red.  It's interesting that Coots mothers add pigments to their yolks.  The more eggs mother lays the more pigment she adds.  In this way she effectively paints her chicks by order of age. 

The bond between parents and chicks is very strong.  There was so much tender care and love in the air.

Diving incessantly for food is quiet tiring, but soon the chicks will become independent and parents will be free again.

Generally, life is good.

Female American Coot is Feeding Her Chick

It was a big surprise to stumble upon the Coot family.  The chicks looked so funny with their yellow-orange downy feathers, bare red and black head and stubby red and orange bill.  

Some Coot chicks were more independent but the chick in the photo above couldn't yet feed itself and was fed by its mother.

Opps,  the chick dropped its food. 

Mother immediately dived into the water and emerged from it with algae. The chick  was obviously looking forward to being fed again.

American Coots are omnivores, they eat seeds of marsh weeds, grasses, algae, fish, worms, snails and eggs of other birds.

Life goes on.

Silhouettes of American Coots at Dawn

I always wanted to create a photograph with birds silhouettes during sunset or dawn but unfortunately, either the light was not good or the birds were hiding.

On that early July morning, as if by magic, the light turned out to be wonderful and turned the American Coots into silhouettes, just as I wanted them to be.

Life goes on.

A Mating Season - II. American Coots Are Mating

At the end of March American Coots start to mate.  They are monogamous and mate for life.  Mating I was able to photograph started with a courtship, bowing and nibbling that ended with the male displaying his power and the female her willingness to mate.

Soon the female will start to build a floating nest hidden among tall water reeds and when a time will come she will lay eggs, usually from eight to twelve.

Generally, life is good!

To Migrate or Not To Migrate?

We often assume that migrant birds face greater dangers than the birds who are all year around residents, but in fact the opposite may be true.  Birds like American Coots chose not to migrate but during the harsh winter months  they have a difficult time to find food.

This Coot was very lucky and managed to catch a medium size fish.

The safe place to have breakfast.

It's slippery but for Coot it's a not a big deal.  His toes are wide and steady.  The Coot is almost ready for his breakfast.

A few bites.

Suddenly the Coot stopped eating.  A danger...   Another Coot was approaching fast and going to steal the fish.

Run, run fast!  It's your catch.  Go to a safer place and finish your breakfast.

The story I told had a happy ending but sometimes a Coot who caught the fish is not the one who would eat it. 

Generally, life is good!

American Coot is Bathing - I.

I ignored American Coots for a long time and took them for granted but two weeks ago I watched closely their behavior and it was fascinating, especially when Coots were bathing and interacting with each other.

The Coots are bathing while they are swimming. It's a ritual. Swim, bathe, swim,  bathe shaking off water at short intervals.

Coot is shaking off as much water as possible.  My guess is the Coot tries to get rid of parasites.

Swimming on one side and bathing simultaneously. 

It's better not to get close to a Coot when he is bathing but another coot seems to care less about being in the splashes of water.

Bathing takes a long time with many different techniques.   

It's interesting that American Coots look like ducks but they are not ducks, they are relatives of Rails which are very shy and elusive.

Generally, life is good!

Mating Time for American Coots

At the end of March American Coots start to mate.  They are monogamous and mate for life.  Mating I was able to photograph started with a great show. At the beginning the male displayed his power and the female showed her willingness to mate. 

 Then everything changed in seconds.

The female disappeared in the water. You can see only her legs.

The male is splashing water to discourage predators during mating. 

Finally, the female's head can be seen.  

Mating in water is almost finished. 

Soon the female will start to build a floating nest hidden among tall water reeds and when a time will come she will lay eggs, usually from eight to twelve.

Life continues.

A Cute American Coot

An American Coot isn’t the most beautiful bird in the world but it certainly cute. The coots are awkward in flight, especially on taking off, they beat their wings for a long distance before getting into air.

Their long toes are good for swimming and also support their weight when a coot is standing in the muck. Once I watched the mating dance between coots and I was surprised how long their toes were.

Stretching his long toes in the mating dance.

American Coots in a Mating Dance

A mating dance was not very long but long enough that I could take photos of it.  The dance was powerful, fast and beautiful.

I didn't understand why another American Coot joined later a mating couple. Perhaps, if things would not go well he could step into the dance. Or something like this...

American Coot resembles a duck but he is not a duck.  This migratory bird lives in the Pacific and Mexico year around and comes to Northern Utah for summer breeding.

American Coot -1.

Just because a bird swims and dives in the water for food, 
doesn't mean that this bird is a duck.
What I thought was some type of duck was not a duck at all.
This interesting bird is the American Coot
who is more related to the shore birds as the Sandhill crane and the Rail.

American Coot is a migratory bird. It lives in the Pacific 
 and Mexico year around.
These birds come to Northern Utah for summer breeding.