This post is for you if you like unique birds. This time, we’d like to show you some pictures of Coots, a rare bird that you’ve almost certainly never heard of.
The American Coot, sometimes known as the Mud Hen, is a medium-sized bird that resembles both a hen and a duck.
They have a chicken-like walk on land and a duck-like swim in the water. Although it enjoys being on land on occasion, it prefers to spend the majority of its time in the water.
The American coot is a North American migratory bird that can be found throughout the continent. During the summer breeding season, they can be found in northern states such as New York and Massachusetts, as well as southern Canada.
They can be seen in the southern United States during the winter, from Florida to California. Park lakes, ponds, open marshes, and slow-moving rivers are common places to find them.
The plump dark body, small head, narrow legs, white wedge-shaped bill, and crimson eyes of coots make them immediately identifiable.
They’re known for their unusual feet, which resemble feathers. Sandhill Cranes and Rails are their closest cousins.
Coots in the United States eat mostly water vegetation. They do not, however, pursue a completely vegetarian lifestyle.
They are also known to devour insects (beetles, dragonflies, and others).
Coots create floating nests and lay 8–12 eggs in each clutch on average. Females engage in “conspecific brood parasitism,” laying eggs in the nests of other coots.
