From Opus

Fulica caribaea

Photo by Jonathan Farmer
Location: Barbados, West Indies

[edit] Identification

38-40 cm (15.5 inches) grayish-black bird with white undertail coverts, red eye, white bill and white frontal shield that extends much further up the front of the head of a mature adult than on American Coot, and yellowish legs.

[edit] Similar Species

Very similar to American Coot, which increasingly occur in the Caribbean; adult American Coot has a white frontal shield that is cut of not far above the bill, and above that a large reddish-brown "callus" which is not present in Caribbean Coot. Immatures are virtually identical. The matter is complicated by several things: (a) a small proportion of American Coot, even far from the Caribbean, have white frontal shield, and (b) interbreeding have been reported in the NW Caribbean.

[edit] Distribution

From regular to rare in different parts of Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and Venezuela, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Vagrancy has been reported from Florida and Colombia.

[edit] Taxonomy

• A monotypic species.
• Reported hybridization with American Coot where ranges overlap warrants study of its taxonomic status.¹

[edit] Habitat

Open freshwater areas including ponds and man-made lakes.

[edit] Behaviour

Nesting occurs all year.

[edit] References

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

[edit] External Links