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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Interesting Coot (1 Viewer)

Lol

Member
Poor photo - taken this morning locally in South Wales.
The bird was very grey - but the bill was white throughout.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 

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Interesting,Lol,as yes,all our coots are all black,leastways all the ones i've seen around here are.
Christine.
 
It looks to have the typical Eurasian Coot frontal shield I think though its difficult to tell for certain from the image.
 
steve_nova said:
The American Coot looks to be very grey in the body. Do you think it could be this?

I have to confess that that was what briefly crossed my mind this morning - the narrow shield also looks good - but the bill is completely wrong - so I wrote it off as an aberant eurasian - but took a few snaps out of interest. The more I look at the snaps, the more interesting it gets :)
 

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Hmm. I'd like to see a shot with the head in profile. It appears that the feathering at the base of the bill may project onto the bill in a point, which would rule out American Coot. Not sure that the white shield isn't a touch too extensive for AM too. Must go and see what photos I can find.

Jason
 
Bluetail said:
Hmm. I'd like to see a shot with the head in profile.
Jason

This is the only profile shot - suffers badly from shake 9poor light) - not sure if it helps ?
 

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I'm guilty of not looking too closely at Coots (I think the jury might acquit me there), but I think this is probably a first-winter bird. First winters are paler than adults (and have a slight brownish cast to the plumage which I think I detect here) and a much smaller frontal shield than adults.

Jason
 
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