Common Coot Identification Guide

The Common Coot is a bit larger than the Common Moorhen.

It has a round, wide body with a short tail and a small round head.

Its body is sooty gray.

It has a black head with a white bill and frontal shield and red eyes.

This frontal shield or "shield" serves to protect itself, to identify its partner, to protect its territory, and for sexual selection.

Its short and rounded wings fit the shape of its body.

When spread, they are recognized by a thin white edge at the rear.

Its legs are powerful and its long toes are lobed.

Juveniles are gray-brown with whitish plumage on the sides of the head, the front of the neck, and the chest.

They have a yellowish and grayish bill with a small frontal shield much smaller than that of the adult.

The bill lightens by summer, and the young resemble adults by autumn.

The Common Coot has a varied and noisy repertoire! It often repeats short, sharp sounds resembling a trumpet.

It is heard a lot at night. It flies with a trumpeting sneeze "pe-ü-pe-pe".

Its calls can be sharper… "keuk".

Or more piercing like this explosive alarm call. "pitt's" like a branch striking a stone.

In spring, the vocal exchanges of the couple are softer.

The sound produced by striking the ground, water, or vegetation with its powerful feet "pet pet pet" also serves to mark its territory as it is very loud.

Unlike other rallids, the Common Coot is not secretive and hidden in vegetation, but rather very visible and noisy!

In the non-breeding season, coots gather on large bodies of water.

It swims with a bobbing head and moves forward with its lobed feet.

It is often seen running on the water surface to gain momentum to take off or to chase an intruder.

Coots move a lot at night in flight to avoid attracting predators with their direct and slow flight.

The Common Coot becomes territorial and combative during the breeding season.

To defend its territory, it quickly charges at the intruder.

In territorial conflict, it prepares to attack by lowering its head and raising its rear…

Then, they chase each other or run at each other quickly...

Then, they confront each other with feet and bill strikes, spreading their wings backward to unbalance the opponent.

The weaker coot ends up on its back or held underwater, sometimes escaping by swimming underwater or fleeing noisily.

The nest is a pile of vegetation, stems, reeds, placed high in a tuft or on a vegetable raft.

The female produces 1 to 2 broods of 6 to 10 eggs from March to July.

The chicks have black down on their bodies, but their heads are mottled with red, blue, and a yellow collar.

In the warm season, the young are fed submerged plants and algae like the adults.

Once the entire brood has hatched, the young are divided between the two parents. The female keeps the nest with her half of the brood.

And the male builds another nest to accommodate his share.

The Common Coot searches for food preferably in shallow waters rich in vegetation.

It is mainly vegetarian and also eats some invertebrates (insects, larvae, worms).

To find food, it dives with a small jump, sinks into the water with its lobed feet, and comes up like a floating cork.

The Common Coot is aquatic and occupies natural or artificial inland waters such as ponds, lakes often rich in vegetation.

It is a very widespread species, but its populations have been declining in recent years.

Populations in Europe are sedentary, living there all year round.

While the populations of Eastern and Northern Europe are migratory and come to winter around the Mediterranean.

The Common Coot can live up to about 18 years.