From Opus

Photo by Fulmar
Upper Newport Bay (Back Bay), Newport Beach, California, USA

Fulica americana

[edit] Identification

L.15in (38 cm)

• Gray, duck-like bird with
• White bill and frontal shield,
• White undertail coverts, and
• Lobed toes.

Frontal shield has red swelling at upper edge, visible at close range.
Immatures similar but paler, with duller bill.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds throughout North America: Alaska and Canada through the continental U.S., and is a resident in Colombia and Ecuador; winters in the western and southern U.S. and the West Indies (where range is apparently expanding¹).

[edit] Vagrancy

In late summer and autumn occasionally wanders north to Newfoundland and even southern Greenland. In the Western Palearctic recorded February-April and October-November in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Britain, and several times in the Azores. In September 1990 recorded in the Algarve of southern Portugal and recently recorded for the first time in Spain (November 1999), with the second record a bird in Galicia in January 2003.

[edit] Taxonomy

• Hawaiian Coot (F. alai) and Slate-colored Coot (F. ardesiaca) are now split from American Coot.
• Obverved hybridization with Caribbean Coot (F. caribaea) raises the question of whether or not these two species should be considered conspecific.¹

[edit] Subspecies²

• F. a. americana:

• Alaska to north-western Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island

• F. a. columbiana:

• Andes of Colombia to northern Ecuador

[edit] Habitat

Open ponds and marshes; in winter, also on coastal bays and inlets.

[edit] Behavior

Nesting: 8-10 pinkish eggs, spotted with brown, on a shallow platform of dead leaves and stems, usually on water but anchored to a clump of reeds.

[edit] Vocalization

A variety of clucks, cackles, grunts, and other harsh notes.

[edit] References

1. "Identification Essay: American Coot (Fulica americana) and Caribbean Coot (F. caribaea)." Southeastern Caribbean Birds. http://www.geocities.com/secaribbirds/idamericancaribbeancoot.html.
2. Clements James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

[edit] External Links