Avian Explorer » rail

American Coot

Elizabeth — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 05:14:14 +0000

Yay! The internet is back. I missed you internet. There is nothing like coming home after working for 12 hours and being able to watch television and surf the internet. Yet another reason why I have not been blogging consistently. I suck.

Coots, coots, coots. If there is any bird that I can consistently find in the winter, it’s the American Coot.

They’re very unassuming birds. They won’t let you get too close, but they don’t spook the way mergansers and other ducks do.

They’re supposed to stay in Utah all year round so maybe this year I will find where they keep the babies.

Have you seen their webbed feet? They are strange looking. The head in this picture has been cut off to protect the innocent…or it was the best photo available. I bet the webbing is excellent for swimming.

This guy below looks like he was doing dance moves. He’s a backup dancer for Britney Spears when she’s touring.

Sora

Elizabeth — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:59:24 +0000

In Deseret Ranch we drove by several water bodies.

In the marsh areas, we saw a Sora. Sora are very common but due to their secretive nature, they’re hard to find. Amazingly, this guy was lucky enough to have one walk past him.

The guide could only coax out the Sora by taping. For those that are not familiar, taping is when you play a recording of a bird in order to get the bird to show itself. Some people are extremely opposed to taping. I certainly think it takes the fun out of birding, but when you have a large group of people that are expecting to see birds, I understand why a guide would want to use a recording. In any case, I benefited from the taping by being able to see a life bird.

Such a shy bird. The Sora is a type of rail. Coots are also in the family of rails, so I’ve concluded that rails are all weird looking water birds.

American Coot

Elizabeth — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

American coots are rather strange looking with their red eyes and bumpy heads.

You can find them in lakes and ponds all around San Francisco.

Have you ever seen a baby coot? They are hideously cute. Below is a much older juvenile.

Coots are pretty small at 13-16 inches. Below is a size comparison of a coot with a gull. Also, I like how the red leaf behind the gull makes it look like he has a fiery red tongue.

Yesterday, I visited Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. They had quite a variety of birds in the water. Here you can see the coot next to some mallard ducks and another bird that I have yet to identify.

Several people were feeding the birds. Coots may be small, but they’re very fast. They competed with the much larger geese for bread.

There were several scuffles. Don’t mess with this mallard!

The other birds would move fast if they were within a foot of the bread. The coots, on the other hand, would go for any bread that they coot see.

You can do it!

They’re very vocal birds too. I could almost hear them say, “I’m huuungry!”